SB2C-4 Helldiver Bureau Number 21079 USN VB-87 USS Ticonderoga (CV-14)

Pilot Lt(jg) Raymond Porter, 24 (POW, died Aug 6, 1945, BR) Butler, PA Gunner ARM3C Norman R. Brissette, 7620034 (POW, died Aug 6, 1945, BR) Lowell, MA Ditched July 28, 1945 Mission History Built by Curtiss. Delivered to the U. S. Navy (USN) SB2C-4 Helldiver bureau number 21079. Wartime History Assigned to the USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) to Bombing Squadron 87 (VB-87). No known nose art or nickname.

Mission History On July 28, 1945 took off from USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) as part of TF-38 attack on Kure. Over the target, this Helldiver was hit by anti-aircraft fire and ditched off Hiroshima.

Fates of the Crew Porter and Brissette were captured by the Japanese and interned at the Chugoku Kempei-Tai headquarters at Hiroshima.

On August 6, 1945 Chugoku Kempei-Tai headquarters was near the epicenter of the atomic bomb blast. Porter died during the blast. Brissette survived the atomic blast and was recovered at the end of the war, but died soon afterwards from radiation poisoning soon afterwards.

Memorials After the recovery of the crew, both were transported to the United States for permanent burial.

Porter was buried on November 3, 1949 at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery plot 82 grave 156. Brissette was buried at Saint Joseph Cemetery in Chelmsford, MA.

In 1999, a Memorial For U.S. POWs killed by the atomic bomb was placed at the site of the former headquarters. The memorial was conceived and built by a Japanese resident of Hiroshima.

Porter and Brissette are both memorialized at the Andersonville National Historic Site / National Prisoner of War Museum.

References Remembering Normand Brissette by David Rubin NARA Prisoners of War Data File - Norman Roland Brissette FindAGrave - Norman P. Brissette (P. [sic, R.] Saint Joseph Cemetery) FindAGrave - Normand Roland Brissette (Andersonville National Cemetery memorial) Thanks to Jim Sawruk, Chris Valgardson and Phil Fazzini for additional information.

Last Updated November 28, 2019

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