"As Tail Gunner on the lead ship of the second element, i was in a good position to see the B-24 go down.
Staff Sergeant Thomas L. Grady, ASN 31108546
Tail Gunner - McCoy Crew
48 Missions - Distinguished Flying Cross - 2 Battle Stars
10th Air Force / 7th Bombardment Group / 492nd Bombardment Squadron
China-Burma-India, January 1942 - December 1943
(All Images Courtesy of Elizabeth Grady, Daughter)
(SSgt. Grady at left)
(This photo was developed in reverse)
(SSgt. Grady, standing far left; Capt. Edward McCoy, kneeling 2nd from left)
Smoky Hill Air Base, Salina, Kansas, November 1942
Standing, L-R: Doman, Eduard Jean Charlet, Unknown
Unknown, Sibulski, Grady
Front Kneeling: Walter Kappel
Capt. Edward L. McCoy (standing, far left) & Crew - Panagarh, India 1943:
Standing, L-R: Rambow, Doman, Grady
Kneeling, L-R: Whistle, McIntosh, Miller, Sibulski, Bebout
(SSgt. Grady, standing at far left)
(SSgt. Grady placing the finishing touches on the "We'rewolves II")
McCoy Crew - Panagarh, India
Standing, L-R: SSgt. Thomas L. Grady (G), TSgt. Russell F. Doman (E), SSgt. George P. Sibulski (G)
1Lt. Earl A. Rambow (N), TSgt. Roy A. Whistle (RO)
Kneeling, L-R: Lt. John Miller (CP), SSgt. Lester V. Bebout (G)
Capt. McCoy, 1Lt. Robert L. "Mac" McIntosh (B)
On 26-October-43, SSgt. Grady, from his post as a B-24 tail gunner, witnessed the downing
of B-24 "Boogie Woogie Bomb Buggy".
His eyewitness account is found below:
I glanced at the B-24 in question just at the moment of the collision between the B-24 and the Zero. It was rather like an explosion in the rear section of the B-24 with pieces flying in all directions. The tail section was shattered and the plane from the side windows forward began a slow spin toward the earth. I was one chute open shortly after the collision. The Zero began to spin down faster than the B-24 and I saw it crash but could not watch long enough to see the B-24 hit the ground. I saw no fires during the time I watched."
His oil painting, from his memory of the incident, graphically depicts the mid-air collision:
SSgt. Grady, post-War with actress Kay Francis
SSgt. Grady's Obituary