Nick Corbo Was a WWII Hero That Helped Preserve Our Freedom

(Special thanks to John Schlatter, a fellow Stories Behind the Stars volunteer who wrote this story!)

Staff Sergeant Nicholas “Nick” Corbo, 25, Scotia, New York, is one of 23 American servicemen who died February 10, 1945, when two B-29 bombers collided during a mission over Japan. While over the target area, the large formation of American bombers was attacked by a band of Nakajima Ki-44 single-engine “Tojo” fighter planes. During that attack, the bomber “Slick Chicks” struck “Deaner Boy,” causing both to crash. Some accounts quote Japanese reports as saying one of the kamikazes rammed Slick Chicks, but the official U.S. Missing Air Crew Report simply says the two craft collided.

Sergeant Corbo was radio operator aboard Slick Chicks. Army Service Number of 32291489.

He was born October 19, 1919 in Scotia, New York, the fifth of six children of Angelo and Angeline Corbo. His parents and his oldest sibling were born in Italy and came to America in 1913. He graduated from Scotia High School, where he was a star running back on the football team. His father owned and operated a restaurant, and he was working there when he registered for the draft in July 1941. He enlisted in the Army at Albany, New York on April 15, 1942. His enlistment record indicates he was a high school graduate and was five-feet-seven and 162 pounds.

During his military training he was stationed at Harvard Army Air Field near Hastings, Nebraska. While there he met a twenty-year-old local girl, Eileen Wykert. Their engagement was announced in the local newspaper in December 1944, but he died before they could be married. In August 1946 she married a local man who had also served in the Army Air Corps during the war.

The two planes that collided were part of an armada of 120 aircraft that took off from Tinian Island to bomb the Nakajima Aircraft Assembly Plant at Ota, northwest of Tokyo. The 3,000-mile round trip took about 15 hours. Twelve of the 120 American bombers were lost during the mission, including Slick Chicks (42-24784) and Deaner Boy (42-24815).

Today, there is a memorial at the site erected by local Japanese, with the names of all crewmen inscribed along with the following words: “We wish to commemorate these 23 brave souls, and offer a wish for world peace and friendship between Japan and America.”

The Japanese cremated the bodies of the 23 dead Americans and buried them. The remains were recovered after the war by the American Graves Registration Service and returned to the States. They were interred in one coffin at Arlington National Cemetery on May 10, 1949.

The following account of the funeral was written by the Associated Press and carried in several newspapers throughout the U.S.:

Approximately 150 relatives and friends attended the Protestant, Jewish and Catholic services conducted by the ceremonial chapter of the Third Infantry from Fort Myer, Virginia.

As the flag-draped casket was removed from a hearse and carried to the grave, the Army band played “Abide With Me.” Then, as military attendants held the flag suspended above the coffin, the band played “Nearer My God To Thee,” and the services began.

The first part, conducted by Chaplain Maj Elbert L. Atkinson, was for the 15 Protestants; the second by Chaplain Lt. Col. Henry Tavel, for the one Jew; and the last, by Chaplain Lt. John T. Tawler, for the seven Catholics.

Then three volleys were fired across the flower-banked grave, a bugler sounded taps, a more distant bugler sounded a reply, the flag was folded and the band played “Onward Christian Solders” and the services were over.

Slick’s Chicks’ crew members were:

· Pilot, Capt. Carmel Slaughter, 26, Orlando, Florida

· Co-Pilot, 2nd Lt. Dan Godsy, 21, Oklahoma

· Navigator, 1st Lt. Kenneth Swanson, 24, Illinois

· Bombardier, 1st Lt. Herbert Weiner, 22, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

· Flight Engineer, 2nd Lt. Joseph Jarosz, 24, New Jersey

· Radio Operator, S/Sgt. Nick Corbo, 25, Scotia, New York

· Radar, Sgt. Kenneth Mago, 21, Wisconsin

· Right Gunner, S/Sgt. Ralph McClellan, 24, Verona, Ohio

· Central Fire Control Gunner, S/Sgt. Robert Yonce, 19, Illinois

· Tail Gunner, Sgt. Frank Kastenmeier, 19, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

· Left Gunner, Sgt. James Melvin, Michigan

· Col. Birrell Walsh (Passenger/observer), 37, Rugby, North Dakota

·

The crew of Deaner Boy included:

· Pilot, 1st Lt. Owen Barnhart Jr., 23, Contra Costa County, California

· Co-Pilot, 2nd Lt. Donald MacAuley Morrison, Waltham, Massachusetts

· Navigator, 2nd Lt. Cornelius Kerns, 21, Norfolk, Virginia

· Bombardier, 1st Lt. Hugh Burner, 26, Islington, Massachusetts

· Flight Engineer, 2nd Lt. Harley Hazelwood, 24, Pagosa Springs, Colorado

· Radio Operator, S/Sgt. Norman Smith, 23, Baltimore, Maryland

· Radar, Sgt. James Greup, 19, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

· Central Fire Control Gunner, Sgt. George Wilbur III, 23, Iowa City, Iowa

· Left Gunner, Sgt. Harry Harz Jr., 19, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

· Right Gunner, Sgt. Donald Kissinger, 19, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin

· Tail Gunner, Sgt. Harvey Fitzpatrick, 18, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey

Deaner Boy was named by a one of the pilots who flew the plane, Captain Dean Forburger, for his infant son, Dean, Jr. Deaner Boy also carried the nose art of the 121st Seabees, a Navy construction battalion stationed on Tinian. The Seabees were integral to the bombing campaign against Japan in the last months of the war. They built five major airfields: two on the flat island of Tinian, one on Saipan, and two on Guam. Each was large enough to eventually accommodate a bomb wing consisting of four bomb groups, giving a total of 180 B-29s per airfield. These bases could be supplied by ship, and unlike the bases in China, were not vulnerable to attack by Japanese ground forces.

The bases became the launch sites for the large B-29 raids against Japan in the final year of the war. The campaign of incendiary raids started with the bombardment of Kobe on 4 February 1945, then peaked early with the most destructive bombing raid in history (even when the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are considered) on the night of 9–10 March 1945 on Tokyo. From then on, the raids intensified, being launched regularly until the end of the war.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49170801/nick-corbo

https://japan-forward.com/they-bombed-japanese-cities-yet-b-29-crew-members-are-remembered-in-memorials-across-japan/

https://bangshift.com/general-news/videos/watch-b-29-get-nose-art-added-officer-1944-deaner-boy-b-29-crashed-1945/ (Video showing nose art being painted on Deaner Boy)

https://www.japanairraids.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/A-Story-Captured-in-Photographs.pdf

http://www.usaaf-noseart.co.uk/plane.php?plane=ncb-121sts#.YijZNHrMKM8

http://empiremimuseum.org/docs/aylsworth.pdf

https://www.newspapers.com/image/171942182/?terms=%22harry%20j%20harz%22&match=1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-29_Superfortress#New_Mariana_Islands_air_bases

https://www.newspapers.com/image/700833918/?terms=%22nick%20corbo%22&match=1

Created by Bobjoice997 Mar. 12, 2022

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/657792928/nicholas-corbo