SSGT Russell Warren Strong (1921-1945) - Find A Grave Memorial

Enlisted (31198234) in the Army Air Corps on 31 October 1942 at Hartford, Connecticut. Completed basic military training, and RADAR "radio detection and ranging" school (MOS 866). Underwent B-29 aircraft transition and combat crew training at Pratt Army Air Field, Kansas.

Shipped to Herington AAF for out-processing and pre-deployment staging to the Pacific Theatre of Operations aboard B-29 Superfortress serial #42-24593 "American Maid" tail code A-Square-7.

MACR 14593

RADAR Operator, B-29-30-MO (Martin-Omaha) Superfortress serial #42-65348, Call Sign: A-Square-16, 20th Air Force, XXI Bomber Command, 73rd Bomb Wing, 497th Bombardment Group (VH), 869th Bomb Squadron, Isely Airfield, Saipan, Mariana Islands, PTO.

On 1 June 1945, the aircraft was hit with AAA-flak in the #1 engine (setting the engine on-fire) over the target at Osaka, Japan. According to a Japanese historian, the plane was subsequently shot down by fighters and crashed into Mount Omine south of Osaka. He was captured as a POW, and executed (poisioned) 15 August 1945.

Note: One of the Japanese captors handed Strong a drink of black tea laced with deadly potassium cyanide and told him it was medicine that would alleviate his diarrhea.

World War II Honoree (wwiimemorial.com)

Russell W Strong