Herbert Van Wyck was the Radar-Navigator and is the second from the right standing in this picture of the crew of the Jeeterbug. Herb had been a pilot before the war, but some depth perception issues prevented him from taking the left seat. I make out the pilot's name on the aircraft as being Frank Jeeter. Other crew members included Pete Peterson and Grover Cleveland and I presume they are in this picture. The crew trained at Langley Field in Newport News. They were stationed in Okinawa towards the end of the war and overflew Nagasaki and Hiroshima after the dropping of the Atomic bombs. After the war, a number of the crew members attended Ohio Wesleyan University together and could be seen wearing their leather "bomber" jackets around the campus. I am told Pete Peterson died in an plane crash sometime in the late 1950's.
This picture shows the plane after 85 missions. There is a small Japanese "Rising Sun" Flag painted next to the top row of mission bombs below the pilots seat. I would take this to represent an enemy aircraft downed by the crew gunners.
I will try to update this page with more information as it becomes available. If you have any information to contribute about this aircraft or crew please do not hesitate to contact me at whitelaw@spamcop.net . I would like to identify all of the airmen in this image and put together a short history of it's service.
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