TSgt. Urvan A. Aubuchon, 37183004 Aubuchon was the flight engineer on B-24 #42-73059, assigned to the 10th Air Force, 7th Bombardment Group, 493rd Bombardment Squadron.
Flight Engineer - Wesley Werner Crew
10th Air Force / 7th Bombardment Group / 493rd Bombardment Squadron
Enlisted: May 1942 Missing In Action: 14 Nov 43 Died in POW Camp: 26 Nov 43
Distinguished Flying Cross Air Medal Purple Heart
(Images Courtesy of Newspapers.com - St. Louis Dispatch, 28 Nov 43)
TSgt. Urvan Aubuchon
They were part of a six plane formation to bomb the town of Pakokku. Shortly after dropping their bombs, they were attacked by fifteen to twenty Japanese fighters and a fierce battle ensued. Aubuchon's and two other planes were shot down. They crash landed just west of the Chindwin River, about sixty miles south of Mandalay.
Two crewmen were killed in the crash while six others, including Aubuchon, were seriously burned. They were taken prisoner, and Aubuchon later died of his injuries at the Rangoon POW camp.
On May 17, 1946 a C-47B cargo plane took off from Rangoon carrying the remains of Aubuchon and approximately forty other service men who died as prisoners of war. They were to be returned to the United States. However, the plane crashed during a storm in India, killing the three man crew as well as the eight passengers from the American Graves Registration Service. The wreckage was discovered by Clayton Kuhles in 2009, and efforts are being made to return the remains to the US.
Because his body was not recovered, he is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing.