source : John Lehnen

499th Bomb Group (VH), 877th Bomb Squadron

AIRCRAFT COMMANDER

AIRCRAFT SERIAL NUMBER

NICKNAME

NEWELL

44-69655

Margie Lou

Throughout these pages you will encounter the abbreviation IDPF

Individual Deceased Personnel File

Unless otherwise stated,
this IDPF is the source of douments used within these pages

A tribute to Sgt Raymond F Shiber is at the

499th Bomb Group Virtual Cemetery

created by Scott Muselin

Sgt Raymond Shiber was born and raised in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Within the family he was called Bud.
His mother, Margaret Haggerty Shiber, died in 1927 when he was four years old.

His father, Urban Leo Shiber, remarried sometime between 1930 and 1935.
His stepmother was Elizabeth ( Bessiie ) Kearney Shiber and she died in January 1945.

The Shiber Family section contains a few details about the family,
including his sisters Mary Agnes and Emma Louise.

He graduated from Johnstown Catholic High School
and a few pages from the Class of 1941 are in the Yearbook section.

There is considerable interweaving in the Correspondence , Identification, and
Coming Home Sections

As an example, the last document in Correspondence is used as
the first document of Coming Home.

Below are his Draft Registration Card and Enlistment Record.

Raymond Francis Shiber was inducted 23 January 1943 and
his first station was Camp McCain, Mississippi, for basic training.

Based on dental records his next stations were:

June 1943
Camp Carson, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Within Camp Carson was a camp for German and Italian POWs.

He was with the 404th Military Police Escort Guard Company at the Camp.

April 1944

Kingman Army Air Field
Kingman, Arizona
Flexible Gunnery School

Most likely Summer of 1944

Smoky Hills Army Air Field
Salina, Kansas
He would have joined the Capt James F Newell Crew during this time.

15 October 1944

Transferred to Lincoln Army Air Field
Staging Base for Air Echelon

On or about 1 November 1944

arrive Hamilton Army Air Field
Aerial Port of Embarkation

19 December 1944
Arrive Saipan

The Newell Crew section contains some information
about their B-29 loss on 26 June 1945.

Additional details can be found at the

Capt James F Newell Page

Nine of the crew survived the crash and were then
executed at Osaka Castle, Osaka, Japan, in August 1945.

The Recovery section documents the location where each man was buried.

Sgt Shiber was one of the 14 men who were executed at the Jonan Rifle Range.

The precise date of execution is not in any document from his IDPF.

15 August 1945 appears to be an Administrative Decision.

He is buried at Long Island National Cemetery.

Below is his Registration Card dated 30 June 1942 followed by
his Enlistment Record.

My thanks to the following for their help with these pages:

John Lehnen
Ray Batvinis
Roy Wall
Scott Muselin
Jim Bowman

Ancestry.com
Fold3

St Louis National Archives

POW Reseach Network Japan

REGISTRATION CARD
FRONT
30 JUNE 1942

source: Ancestry.com

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REGISTRATION CARD
BACK
30 JUNE 1942

source: Ancestry.com

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ENLISTMENT RECORD
PAGE 1

source: National Archives and Records Administration

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ENLISTMENT RECORD
PAGE 2

source: National Archives and Records Administration

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