Pfc. William Chinn   

Pfc. William R. Chinn was first identified as a native of Ironton, PA. My first contact with publications there unearthed the fact that this was an error on the part of the military, and that he was from Ironton, Ohio. The Chinn family in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania had no son by the name of William, so further investigation determined that his family was from Ohio. His mother, Mrs. Eloise Stewart, was devastated at the loss of this youngest son who had joined the military. William R. Chinn had graduated from Ironton High School and shortly thereafter had entered the service. He attended the Norden Bombsight School at Lowry Field near Denver, CO. He was assigned to the 33rd Bomb Squadron at Langley Field when the squadron was transferred to California.

Within weeks of the crash, the commander of the Norden School pressed the authorities to see that graduating students receive the military rank of Lieutenant. These men are highly specialized, and the Norden bombsight was an innovation, so sophisticated in the early days of WWII that if there was an accident, the device was to be retrieved immediately and any crash site was heavily guarded until it and any armaments were removed. The bombardier even carried the portable bombsight off the plane when he returned from a mission. It must never get into enemy hands. This was a precious piece of armament. Chinn's mother tried in vain to get his commission posthumously, but it was denied as causing too much red tape at the time. Chinn's remains were returned to Ironton, OH, where he was buried with military honors in Cedar Grove Cemetery, alongside his uncle, a veteran of WWI.

A film made in Hollywood in 1944 dramatized the training of the bombardier. Early film star Pat O'Brian plays the part of the commander of the Norden School in Colorado. Entitled "Bombardier", it has been reproduced in a colorized version and can be purchased on videotape for home viewing.

--M.S, July 1995