Avenger tail gunner buried at sea in his aircraft, 1944

Baldeagle · **Posted:** Sat Dec 22, 2012 12:21 pm

This was posted over on the Key Pub forum, and needs to be here. It is some of the most moving film footage I've ever seen:

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=121310

http://www.webstarts.com/library/flowpl ... controls=1

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groundpounder · **Posted:** Sat Dec 22, 2012 1:03 pm

well that was nice and depressing !! :drinkers:

maxum96 · **Posted:** Sat Dec 22, 2012 1:29 pm

Thanks for sharing. Very very moving. I work in law enforcement and I believe we share the same sense of brotherhood that members of a the military do. I've been to funerals for friends and coworkers of mine who have died in the line of duty. I think I can get a real sense of what those men must have felt sending their comrade in arms off like that.

No second guessing here, just curious. But I am a little intrigued as to why he was buried in his plane. The plane was operational and intact (although damaged). And if that was done very often.

m50a1ontos · **Posted:** Sat Dec 22, 2012 1:35 pm

maxum96 wrote:

Thanks for sharing. Very very moving. I work in law enforcement and I believe we share the same sense of brotherhood that members of a the military do. I've been to funerals for friends and coworkers of mine who have died in the line of duty. I think I can get a real sense of what those men must have felt sending their comrade in arms off like that.

No second guessing here, just curious. But I am a little intrigued as to why he was buried in his plane. The plane was operational and intact (although damaged). And if that was done very often.

It's very likely that the condition of the body prevented removal. That turret was pretty chewed up.

Baldeagle · **Posted:** Sat Dec 22, 2012 1:47 pm

groundpounder wrote:

well that was nice and depressing !! :drinkers:

That's an odd and somewhat flippant reaction.

As for the condition of the plane, from the Loyce Deen site:
"In the award winning documentary series, Victory at Sea, the episode entitled "The Conquest of Micronesia" aired several solemn and moving burial at sea scenes. The final scene showed a sailor buried at sea in the plane in which he gave his life. The plane was so badly hit by 40mm anti-aircraft (AA) shells, the Navy decided to leave his body in the plane. In fact, orders also came down not to strip the plane for parts - which was quite an extraordinary tribute at the time since aircraft parts were scarce and in demand. He is the only known USN sailor to be purposely buried with his plane."

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Dan Jones · **Posted:** Sat Dec 22, 2012 1:51 pm

Are any more details recorded, like the man's name and rank? Ship, squadron, a/c ident? I've seen the film clip before, but still very moving.

Dan

JohnB · **Posted:** Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:20 pm

Dan Jones wrote:

Are any more details recorded, like the man's name and rank? Ship, squadron, a/c ident?
Dan

Here's his life story from a website dedicated to him...
http://www.loyceedeen.org

Does anyone know if this type of event was common?
They must have had a good supply of planes to consider putting a new aircrfat over the side like this.
I doubt if they would have done it in the early days of the war.

Along the same line, my father was a B-17 pilot in the 15th AF. He told me that one plane in the group had the misfourtune of having two tail gunners killed.
The Group got rid of the plane....presumably at a depot for reassignment.

I'm sure there are many stories like this.

RIP to to Loyce Deen. It's nice that he's remembered.

cooper9411 · **Posted:** Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:21 pm

Thanks for the post. Very, very moving!

SaxMan · **Posted:** Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:30 pm

I can't remember the crewman's name, or the other crew members off the top of my head. The Avenger was from VT-15 on the U.S.S. Essex, "White 93". It had just returned from a strike on Manila Bay in late-44 or early '45 IIRC, where it took a direct hit in the turret. There is some unedited footage out on the internet that is a bit more graphic, showing a bit more of a close up of the sailor taking the fingerprints and removing the dog tags.

As far as the decision to bury the body with the plane, I would surmise that since the crewman would have been buried at sea and the plane was going to be dumped overboard, it made more sense to bury the crewmember with the aircraft. I'm not sure I agree with the Victory At Sea synopsis...by this point in the war, TBMs were quite plentiful, and the Navy had a very good resupply system in place. I believe with this knowledge, the plane was more expendable than say if this incident occured in the fall of 1942.

I would agree that this is some of the most poignant footage taken of the entire war.

The Inspector · **Posted:** Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:47 pm

SaxMan wrote:

I can't remember the crewman's name, or the other crew members off the top of my head. The Avenger was from VT-15 on the U.S.S. Essex, "White 93". It had just returned from a strike on Manila Bay in late-44 or early '45 IIRC, where it took a direct hit in the turret. There is some unedited footage out on the internet that is a bit more graphic, showing a bit more of a close up of the sailor taking the fingerprints and removing the dog tags.

As far as the decision to bury the body with the plane, I would surmise that since the crewman would have been buried at sea and the plane was going to be dumped overboard, it made more sense to bury the crewmember with the aircraft. I'm not sure I agree with the Victory At Sea synopsis...by this point in the war, TBMs were quite plentiful, and the Navy had a very good resupply system in place. I believe with this knowledge, the plane was more expendable than say if this incident occured in the fall of 1942.

I would agree that this is some of the most poignant footage taken of the entire war.

Powerful footage. I agree with SAXMAN and would add that it's a sure bet no other aviator would agree to fly that aircaft out of either respect or superstition.

groundpounder · **Posted:** Sat Dec 22, 2012 6:31 pm

Baldeagle wrote:

groundpounder wrote:

well that was nice and depressing !! :drinkers:

That's an odd and somewhat flippant reaction.

As for the condition of the plane, from the Loyce Deen site:
"In the award winning documentary series, Victory at Sea, the episode entitled "The Conquest of Micronesia" aired several solemn and moving burial at sea scenes. The final scene showed a sailor buried at sea in the plane in which he gave his life. The plane was so badly hit by 40mm anti-aircraft (AA) shells, the Navy decided to leave his body in the plane. In fact, orders also came down not to strip the plane for parts - which was quite an extraordinary tribute at the time since aircraft parts were scarce and in demand. He is the only known USN sailor to be purposely buried with his plane."

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Whats so odd about it?

SaxMan · **Posted:** Sat Dec 22, 2012 9:12 pm

Having spent a fair amount of time in an Avenger's radio compartment (Bu No 91426 that Jack Kosko and his crew are finishing up) I'm sure it was an absolutely horrifying scene for the Radioman Denzek. Knowing there was nothing further he could do for Deen, I can understand why he wanted to get out of the radio compartment and come up into the greenhouse by the pilot.

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Avenger tail gunner buried at sea in his aircraft, 1944

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