This section consists of three pages with documents all related to the 1st Lt Carl Smith Crew.

The crew was one of the originals, with some of the men training initially at Clovis AAF and then others joining at Great Bend AAF. From the 498th Bomb Group History ( Air Force Historical Research Agency ), the unit transferred to Kearney AAF, Nebraska, at the end of August 1944.

The Carl Smith crew would have travelled by rail from Kearney AAF to Hamilton Field as part of the Air Echelon. There is no information in the 498th Bomb Group History about the dates that the Air and Flight Echelons departed for Saipan. The Shipment Order in the second and third below documents is dated 30 October and the Crew most likely would have been on Saipan in early November.

The crew photo is courtesy of Mike Crabtree, Honoring Marion Ohio Veterans. A smaller but clearer picture is at Lt Houghton's section.

Below the photo are two pages of the Shipment Order issued at Hamilton Field, Aerial Port of Embarkation, on 30 October 1944.

The 498th Bomb Group History states that the crews arrived on Saipan between the third week of October and first week of November. The only specific detail is the first B-29 to land on Saipan, T Square 5, 12 October 1944.

The Carl Smith Crew flew 18 Missions between 24 November 1944 and 1 April 1945. Two pages from MACR 13762 have handwritten details of Lt Houghton's missions. There is nothing to indicate who wrote this information.

Within the second page are four pages of MACR 13762. First is the original typwritten report with additional handwritten updates appearing at the left and right margins. Lt Houghton is designated as DOI ( Died of Injuries ). Below these first pages are two lists of Next Of Kin, one with hand written notes of each man's status.

Page three has an article from the 29 March 2006 Stars and Stripes, one page from a book written by Randy Watkins, and two pages from the Tobu Army District report.

The Stars and Stripe article notes cause of death poisoning as does the report found at POW Research Network Japan. Randy Watkins uses the term ' executed '.

Randy Watkins' book, titled You Are Not Forgotten, concerns Group Burials in National Cemeteries. Five members of the Carl Smith Crew are buried in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.