Sergeant David Dominic Patrizi, #13037714

During the Great Depression, America’s spirits were raised by a jazz musician whose upbeat arrangements were heard on “Let’s Dance.” Clarinetist Benny Goodman, the “King of Swing,” was a regular on NBC’s Saturday night radio program. His interpretation of Southern artists’ smooth, fluid intonations and singular style inspired many young musicians to bring their own skills into play. David Dominic Patrizi, a member of his high school band and orchestra, was praised by his classmates for his versatility: “Swing that clarinet! Boy, he can do it! But Dave can play you a classical arrangement just as well.”

Six months after Patrizi graduated from high school, the United States entered the deadliest conflict in human history after the Japanese Imperial Air Service surprised the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Wheeler and Hickam Airfields on December 7, 1941. Within a matter of hours, enemy bombers and fighters struck the Philippines, Guam and Wake Island destroying half of the United States Far East Air Force (USFEAF) at Clark and Iba Fields, Philippines. America joined its undermanned, underequipped military with Allied forces in the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO,) engaging the enemy across the world’s largest ocean.

David’s military service with the United States Army Air Forces took him almost 9,000 miles from his Pennsylvania home. In the darkness over the Gulf of Papua in January, 1943, Patrizi and eight men struggled to find their way back to their base.

In the Key of B-17:

Carl Frederick Patrizi, Susan Epina Patrizi and their two daughters, Rosemarie and Angeline, made their home in Atlasburg, Pennsylvania. The Patrizi family welcomed their only son, David Dominic Patrizi, to their Washington County home on August 6, 1924. In 1930, Fred moved his family to Sharon, Mercer County where he worked as a laborer in metal fabrication industries. Rosemarie, a stenographer, joined the workforce as the Depression’s economic grip loosened. Her younger brother, Dave, graduated from Sharon High School, Class of 1941.

Dave enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in Pittsburg on August 7, 1941. He reported to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, then was sent to the New Cumberland, Pennsylvania reception center. Private Patrizi was promoted to Sergeant during his service. Dave was attached to the Fifth Air Force, 43rd Bomb Group, 64th Bomb Squadron.

The Pacific Fleet carriers, USS Enterprise, (CV-6,) the USS Lexington, (CV-2) and the USS Saratoga, (CV-4) were at sea when the Japanese hit Pearl on December 7, fortuitous circumstances of war that Marine Corporal Eugene B. Sledge would later term, “chance’s strange arithmetic.” Their combined sea and air power stood between the Navy’s remaining great vessels and another unprovoked attack.

But the USFEAF did not escape the island Empire’s assaults. After decimating Clark and Iba Airfields on December 8, the Japanese struck Nichols and Del Carmen fields two days later, ending both offensive and defensive opposition against enemy operations. The tattered Far East Air Force, its surviving personnel and a small number of aircraft dispatched from the U.S. mainland were re-organized in Australia and designated the Fifth Air Force in February 1942.

43rd Bomb Group, 64th Bomb Squadron:

The 64th Bomb Squadron was activated in 1941 and equipped with Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress heavy bombers and B-18 medium bombers. After December 7, the Squadron was deployed to New England as an anti-submarine patrol over the North Atlantic shipping lanes. In February 1942, the Squadron was assigned to the Fifth Air Force, reaching Australia in March 1942.

Once reasonably equipped, the unit saw its first combat in September 1942. From 1942 to November 1944, the 43/64 supported anti-shipping operations in Papua New Guinea. The unit was based at Mareeba, Queensland, Australia from October 12 to November 8, 1942 and then deployed to its base near Port Moresby, New Guinea in 1943.

January 7, 1943, Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) 16075:

On January 6, 1943, at 1700 hours, 2Lt. Guyton M. Christopher and co-pilot 2Lt. John Y. Barbee took off in a B-17, #41-24383, from 7 Mile Drome on a bombing mission against an enemy convoy sailing to Lae, New Guinea. The plane had two bomb bay fuel tanks for extended range plus thirty flares to shadow the convoy and drop flares to assist with a possible night attack. Flying alone at 10,000 feet, 2Lt. Christopher located the convoy before dark. Near the end of their patrol, they attempted contact the squadron to learn if another bomber would replace them but radio problems hindered communications.

Christopher continued to shadow the convoy until January 7 at 0230 hours, then turned back for the Port Moresby base. He encountered bad weather over the Owen Stanley Range that lay 90 miles inland from Port Moresby. After repeated attempts to cross the mountains at an altitude of 29,000 feet, Christopher was unable to locate the airfield. At 0335 hours and out of fuel, the pilot ditched into the Gulf of Papua roughly 30 miles off the southern coast of New Guinea.

Ultimately, six men, including Sgt. Patrizi, perished and their bodies were not recovered. Three surviving crew, Co-pilot Barbee and Sgts. Matisoff and Schwimmer, were badly injured but managed to deploy a life raft that M/Sgt. Levin released before the crash. When the bomber ditched, Barbee sustained injuries to injuries to his hands and arms and was knocked unconscious. Matisoff had a broken pelvis and Schwimmer had a broken back. The injured men were far out to sea and could not see land.

When #41-24383 failed to return, the crew was reported as Missing In Action (MIA.) On January 7 at 0940 hours, the base launched a search and rescue flight that scoured the ocean 100 miles out to sea; when it did not locate the missing aircraft, its crew returned at 1145. Later that same day, an RAAF Anson spotted the airmen, reported their position and requested dispatch of a crash boat. After 13 hours adrift, Barbee, Matisoff and Schwimmer were rescued, taken back to Port Moresby and hospitalized for ten days.

Killed in Action:

2nd Lt Guyton M. Christopher, Pilot

Sgt Joseph R. Bayles, Gunner

M/Sgt Meyer Levin, Bombardier

Sgt David D. Patrizi, Crew

2nd Lt Judson S. Ramaker, Navigator

Sgt Joseph E. Wrenn, Crew

Survived:

2nd Lt John Yale Barbee, Co-Pilot

S/Sgt Jack L. Matisoff, Gunner

Sgt Sidney Schwimmer, Crew

Sergeant David Dominic Patrizi, 19, was survived by his family. Posthumously awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart, he is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Philippines, an American Battle Monuments Commission site. His cenotaph rests among the honored dead at Arlington National Cemetery, Section MI, Site 275.

After the War:

In 1990, John Barbee and Marion, his wife, resettled in Winters, California where they operated a walnut farm. John Yale Barbee, 102, died on September 14, 2022.

Jack Matisoff (1917-1988) and his wife, Rose, lived in Los Angeles, California. Jack, 71, died in 1988 and is buried at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.

Sidney Schwimmer (1912-1988) married Faye Brinner and the couple lived in Syracuse, New York. Sidney, 76, died in 1988 and is buried in Poiley Tzedek Cemetery in Syracuse.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars Project. a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ U.S. WW II fallen on Together We Served and on Fold3. (https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/) Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app that will allow people to visit at any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen serviceperson’s name and read his/her story. If you have any details, photos or corrections for this story, please contact drbaker50@charter.net. Stories Behind the Stars: Pamela C. Baker, Ph.D., Contributing Author. SBTS Project/Pennsylvania/Washington

References:

Ancestryinstitutions.org. 1930 United States Federal Census.

https://abmc.gov/decedent-search/patrizi=david

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64th_Bombardment_Squadron

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Goodman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_East_Air_Force_(United_States)

https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-17/41-24383.html

https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-17/41-24383/barbee/index.html

https://syncopatedtimes.com/benny-goodmans-kingdom-of-swing-pt-1-the-early-years/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17983770/david-d-patrizi

https://www.fold3.com/image/30086951?terms=patrizi,d,david

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/529980631/david-d-patrizi

Sledge, E. B. With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa,” Random House Publishing Company, Inc., New York, 1981.

U.S. Defense, POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Unaccounted for Remains, Group A, (Unrecoverable,) 1941-1975.

U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current. Photograph, Cenotaph, Collection of Hope.

U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S., Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949.

U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999. Sharon High School, Pennsylvania, Class of 1941.

U.S., World War II Military Personnel Missing in Action or Lost at Sea, 1941-1945.

David D Patrizi