TRUE STORY-REAL HERO

[dreemz]

In 2003 I purchased a vintage WWll bomber jacket at a Bonhams and Butterfield auction in San Francisco. It was owned by a decorated pilot, Hank Schaub, who flew in the China-Burma-India theater during WWII. Pilots who flew this in this region were referred to as "Hump" pilots, as they had to clear the Himalayas when flying between India and China. These were extremely dangerous routes.
After the acquisition I located Hank's widow and developed a relationship with her and other members of his family. They graced me with priceless items related to his military career and life. I have since donated the jacket and all related materials to the Pima Air Museum in Tucson so that others can appreciate the life of this individual. Nonetheless, other individuals knew of my passion regarding this, including a nurse I work with whose father turned out also to be a hump pilot. He was in an aircraft which was shot down during WWII. He was the sole survivor. This is where it gets interesting. This nurse, Judi Johnston, received this letter out of the blue last week.

[dreemz]

Here is a condensed version of the Missing Aircrew Report. Her father is 2nd Lt. James F. Spain

[dreemz]

Here is a copy of the actual report given by Lt Spain from January 1944. Notice how the pilot John Porter, in his last few seconds of life, knowing full well he is going to die, keeps control of the crashing aircraft and pushes out Spain

[dreemz]

Here is a link to the photos of the recently found crash site:

http://www.miarecoveries.org/gal24_B25D-41-30362.html

Clayton was able to identify the wreckage from the ID tag found at the site from Harry D Tucker who was the gunner on the aircraft at the time

[dreemz]

Most of these servicemen were just kids, usually early 20s. The pilot may have been in his late 20s.

[Xplantdad]

Wow Mark...that is neat! Thanks for sharing sir!

[mockingbird812]

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Good stuff Mark. I did not know of this interest of yours, but it doesn't surprise me that you would something so gracious. Very nice of you to donate those artifacts. The work that those groups do to discover/recover Pow/Mia is admirable. While stationed at NAS Patuxent River, MD, I had the opportunity to support the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command JPAC. They asked my team of aircrew systems experts to help them ID some recovered flight gear recovered in SE Asia in hopes that we would be able to help them determine what type of aircraft the equipment came from. I had some Vietnam era parachute riggers on my staff that were able to determine that recovered flight equipment came from a Vietnam War era Intruder (A-6) aircraft. With the info our guys were able to provide they were able to piece together who the missing two aircrew were. These folks are very passionate and dedicated in what they do. To provide closure to grieving families after so many decades is a wonderful service provided by JPAC. It was rewarding to be a small part of their mission.</span>

[Woj]

Mark,

What a great story. Thanks for putting it together and sharing it with us.

Those guys were true heroes in my mind. Although I'd bet most of them would say they were just doing their job. Those pictures of the crash site are very sobering. What a wild event for Lt. Spain. Can't imagine going through a bail-out and then seeing your crew-mates lives come to an abrupt end like that.

The Hump was a very dangerous operation with hundreds of lost planes and over a 1000 dead airman.

An amazing story.

Phil Woj.

[SS427]

Wow, incredable story Mark. Kusos also to you for making that donation. I will be sure and check it out next time I am there.