29Apr1920 – 12May1945
Edison Days
Jack graduated with the Class of January 1938.
Military Service
Rank: 1st Lieutenant
Branch: United States Army Air Force
Unit: 420th Base Unit
Jack enlisted in the Army on 13Jan1942, barely a month after the US had entered into the war. It is unknown where he attended basic training. By October he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and graduating as a Navigator from Advanced Flying School at Mather Field in Sacramento, California.
Jack was assigned to a squadron in the Middle East (likely Libya or Tunisia). The specific unit is unknown at this time. On 17April1943 Jack suffered a broken back when his plane crash-landed on Malta while involved on a mission to Sicily, Italy.
After he recovered from his injuries, Jack transferred to Hondo Army Airfield in Hondo, Texas to become a Navigation instructor. Hondo was the site of the Army’s largest Navigation school during World War 2. While there, Jack was promoted to 1st Lieutenant in June 1944.
Jack’s next assignment was with the 420th Base Unit based at March Field in Riverside, California. The 420th handled advanced training, radar/navigation instruction, crew formation, and administrative/ferrying duties for aircrews heading to, or returning from, combat theaters.
On 12May1945, Jack was an instructor on a B-24M Liberator Bomber that was conducting a navigation and intelligence gathering training flight using a new type of radar. Departing March Field at 1345, the flight plan had the plane flying up the Pacific Coast of California to Southern Oregon and returning to March Field approximately 12 hours later.
Sometime between 1750 and 1820, the plane was off course and impacted the tops of several redwood trees on a coastal ridge near Anderson Cliff South of Kenny, California and North of Ural, California. The disposition and location of the plane was not immediately known and Jack and the other crewman were reported as missing.
The crash site was discovered 7 days later on 19May 1945. There were no survivors.
Jack’s body was returned to Minnesota, and his funeral was held on 31May1945.
Jack is buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Postscript
Jack’s wife, June Fuller, made the local papers several times both while Jack was alive, and after his death.
Post Postscript
In November 2008, SMSgt Clifford F. Lord, USAF Retired, published a report about the crash to honor his uncle Sgt. Robert G. Lord, the Engineer on the plane that crashed. The report is well researched and documents and can be found on the internet by clicking this link.
Edison Heroes 