500th Bomb Group ( Very Heavy )

AIRCRAFT COMMANDER

SERIAL NUMBER

NICKNAME

LAW

44-69666

BOTTELED IN BLOND

Sgt Harry Ervin McMillen lived in the town of Apollo, Pennsylvania,
located about 35 miles North East of Pittsburgh.
The population in 1940 was between 3000 and 3500.

His date of enlistment according to the National Archives was 15 January 1944.
However a dental chart dated 28 December 1943
is in the below document that has a list of his stations.

It appears that from July through September 1944
he was with the 505th Bomb Group, 313th Bomb Wing,
at Harvard AAF ( Army Air Field) , Nebraska.

It was during his time at Harvard AAF that the 1st Lt Edward G Law crew was formed.

A minimal amount of information about the Law Crew is in these pages.
For more complete information about the crew and loss of their B-29
during the night of 1-2 April 1945, my suggestion is to visit
the Law Crew site.

The B-29 was shot down during the 1-2 April 1945 mission and Lt Law died in the crash.
The other crew members parachuted to safety but were captured
and sent to the Tokyo Kempei Tai Headquarters.

One man, Sgt Ray F Hopper was transferred to Omori POW Camp
and survived the war.

The remaining nine men were in the Tokyo Military Prison the night of the
Fire Raid on Tokyo 25-26 May 1945 and died within the prison.
Sgt McMillen was one of the six who were not identified by 1950.

Tributes to Sgt McMillen can be found at the above links to
Honor States and the 500th Bomb Group Virtual Cemetery.

A few documents from Case History 111 are in these pages.
Considerably more can be found in the Case History 111 section.

Throughout these pages you will encounter the abbreviation IDPF.
This translates to Individual Deceased Personnel File.

Sgt McMillen's IDPF contains 110 pages and it is of interest
to note that there is no correspondence in these pages.

Below are:

Memorial Certificate from the American Battle Monuments Commission,

Sgt McMillen's name in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific,

A list of his stations from January 1944 through February 1945,

The Law Crew photo from the 500th Bomb Group Memorial Association updated 8 October 2020,

And a page from the Tobu Army District History.

My thanks reach out to the following:

Ed Lawson, 500th Bomb Group Memorial Association

Jim Bowman
Michael Krehl
Scott Muselin
Roy Wall
Al Schutte

POW Research Network Japan

UPDATED 20 APRIL 2021
PAGE FROM A SCRAPBOOK DONATED TO
APOLLO AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
source: Sue Ott

source: American Battle Monuments Commission

BACK TO TOP

COURTS OF THE MISSING
NATIONAL MEMORIAL CEMETERY OF THE PACIFIC
HONOLULU, HAWAII

source: Sherry Harysch

BACK TO TOP

STATION LIST

BACK TO TOP

Law Crew edit 8 October 2020
Doug Comella with assistance from Jim Bowman

source: 500th Bomb Group Memorial Association
original source : 500th Bomb Group Operations Diary
National Archives, Maryland

BACK TO TOP

TOBU ARMY DISTRICT

source : POW Research Network Japan

BACK TO TOP