“The Missing
Bombardier” describes the circumstances of the loss of the B-24 bomber SEXY SUE 4 during a mission over Wotje
Atoll in the Marshall Islands in January 1944. The loss itself was not unusual.
However, the identification of the possible location of one of the captured
crewmen on the island of Lae - based on a dream of his mother in the USA - was
extraordinary. Subsequent investigation in the archives did not reveal the
letter from the mother. However, the Air Force records documented a
training-photographic mission to the island
of Lae. The 98th Sqdn
Intelligence officer (John Gartland), and pilot 1st LT Herbert Kurz gave sworn statements that
the purpose of the photo mission was solely to determine the fate of the crew
of the plane - about 250 miles west of the probable crash location near Wotje
Atoll. 2nd Lt Frank Washburn was Kurz's bombardier. Washburn was the
replacement bombardier on the lost plane. The sworn testimony states that a
grave was found on Lae Atoll marked: "F. Washburn." No clue was ever
detected concerning the man whose mother reported the dream, and she is known
only as the mother of one of the four enlisted men on the plane. The ESP component
- based on the dream cannot be explained. The purpose of the research was to
confirm the other circumstances surrounding the loss of the crew and their
possible fate. The material was assembled in a booklet and includes a summary
of the records in the archives, aerial photos of the atoll in the 1960s, a 1944
map, and a narrative story by Col Arthur K. Herold. US Army MI Cpt George E. Kurz
conducted the research and also wrote an estimate of the likely outcome of the
story.