42-73302 B24
On 8 May 1944 a B24J, # 42-73302, assigned to 10th Air Force, 7th Bomb Group, 9th Bomb Squadron, departed the airfield at Pandaveswar, India, on a single aircraft night mine dropping mission in the Gulf of Siam (Thailand). Visibility was 20 to 30 miles. There was no contact by radio and no visual contact by otheraircraft. Major Kellogg was the 9th Bomb Squadron commander. The crew was:
Pilot Maj. David N. Kellogg 0-659723
Co-Pilot 1stLt Michael W. Gavrity 0-797666
Navigator 1stLt Dante (NMI) Mino 0-802661
Bombardier 1stLt Marvin L. Newman 0-670214
Engineer TSgt Vernon L. Thorson 6914408
Radio Operator TSgt Elbert L. Lazenby 38210090
Gunner SSgt Laurel D. Kinsey 35364940
“ Sgt Grant O. Allen 19011012
Armorer SSgt Clifford L. Eastham 19017546
“ SSgt Philip R. Skaggs 6988551
(All enlisted servicemen are also gunners)
It was reported that Maj. Kelogg and SSgt Kinsey survived and returned to the U.S.
Maj. Kellogg reported: At about 1900 hours, after bombing a target in Thailand, the B-24 headed for the ocean to the south, passing between two islands at 200 feet altitude. He flew over a gunboat he did not see until iot was too late and the B-24 was riddled by 20 mm enemy fire. The enemy fire set a wing on fire, shot out two engines and made it necessary to ditch the aircraft instantly in the water near the Sataheib naval base. The crew members did not have sufficient opportunity to take crash positions and some were doubtless killed or seriously injured when the B-24 hit the water. SSgt Kinsey was imprisoned with Maj. Kellogg in Bangkok, Thailand, through 11 June 1945 then were liberated. At the time, Maj. Kellogg was in excellent health and mental condition. Maj. Kellogg never saw the bodies of the crew members listed as killed in action but natives of Thailand told Maj. Kellogg about recovering bodies from the ocean and, based upon descriptions, Maj. Kellogg felt the reports were truthful and that the crew, except SSgt Kinsey, were killed.
The next-of-kin were listed as:
Kellogg Albert B. Kellogg, father, RFD 2, Claremont, NH
Gavrity Mr Peter Garrity, father, 25 Bailey Place, Staten Island, NY
Mino Mrs Mary E Mino, mother, RFD 2, Box 110, Dover, NJ
Newman Miss Janet R Newman, sister, 843 Boulevard West, __hawken, NJ
Thorson Mr Thomas Thorson, father, Braceville, IL
Lazenby Mrs Pearl Lazenby, mother, Rever, AR
Kinsey Mrs Wanda M Kinsey, wife, Rte 3, Box 58, La Porte, IN