Robert D. Hand, Jr. was born on August 25, 1917 in Elbow Lake, Grant County, Minnesota to Robert Donnington Hand, Sr. and Katherine “Elaine” Hand, nee Sanford. His siblings were Katherine, Margaret, and William Hand. The family lived in Ambrose, Divide County, North Dakota. By 1935, the family had moved to Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon. In 1940, they moved to Longview, Cowlitz, County Washington. Robert Hand, Sr. was a pharmacist and drug store owner.

Robert Donnington Hand, Jr. registered for the draft on October 16, 1940. He was 23 years old, 6’ tall, and weighed 194 pounds. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and a dark complexion. He lived in Seattle and was self-employed. He enlisted in the United States Air Corps as an aviation cadet on September 27, 1941 in Portland, Oregon. His residence was Los Angeles, California, and he was working as a photographer. He was single, without dependents and had a college education.

Lt. Robert D Hand, Jr. was assigned to the 13th Bomb Squadron, 3rd Bomb Group, and served in the Pacific Theater of Operations. On September 4, 1942, he was the Co-pilot on B-25 Mitchell #41-12480. The crew of five took off from 7 Mile Drome near Port Moresby, New Guinea as one of six B-25s whose mission that afternoon was to bomb Japanese warships in Milne Bay on the southeast tip of the island. Not finding any enemy ships, the bombers returned to base. Hand’s aircraft developed problems with the left engine and crashed into shallow water at Kupiano Harbor, about 100 miles south of Port Moresby. The next day, natives recovered all five bodies.

Robert D. Hand Jr. was killed in action on September 4, 1942. Originally buried in New Guinea, his remains were returned to the States in 1950 and reinterred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii (Section P, Grave 331). He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

SBTSProject/Washington/Cowlitz

Sources:

Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3776908/robert-d-hand

PacificWrecks, https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-25/41-12480.html

WWII Army and Army Air Force Casualty List, https://www.fold3.com/image/310763493?rec=299418849

1920 United States Federal Census, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/42244744:6061

1930 United States Federal Census, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/108513620:6224

National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/2075163:2590

Minnesota, U.S., Birth Index, 1900-1934, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/423277:9196

World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/5700085:8939

World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/36905498:2238?tid=&pid=&queryId=eaeca14489583a8c0710f80e124b3502&_phsrc=xOR57820&_phstart=successSource