Cpl James P Flaherty Shot Down Near Japan

SN 13082479

James Patrick Flaherty was born September 30, 1925 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania to Dillion Sr. and Katheryn (Maher) Flaherty. The family moved to Washington DC, where James, or “Jim” as he was known, was raised. His father, Dillion, was a vault clerk for the US Bureau of Engraving in Washington, DC and a World War I Veteran. His mother was a homemaker. Jim had an older brother, Dillon Flaherty Jr., to round out the family.

Flaherty attended Anacostia High School in Washington, DC, graduating in 1944. He excelled at multiple sports, including football, basketball and baseball. In football, he received the Touchdown Club outstanding player award from Jack Dempsey in 1943. In spite of his smaller than average size of 140 pounds, “Flea” Flaherty, as he was nicknamed, was selected all-high in football in 1943. Flaherty was also considered to be a major league baseball prospect.

James Flaherty enlisted in the US Army Air Corps on January 17, 1944, at Fort George G Meade, Maryland, the same month he finished high school. He completed aerial gunnery training and underwent B-29 aircraft combat crew training at Fairmont Army Air Field, Nebraska.

Cpl James Flaherty was assigned to the 398th Bomber Squadron, 504th Bomber Group, Very Heavy, 313th Wing, XXI Bomber Command of the 20th Air Force. Just before Christmas of 1944, he was sent over sears to be stationed at North Field, on Tinian in the Mariana Islands in the South Pacific.

On February 15, 1945 he was flying on a bombing assignment with 117 other aircraft launched to fly a multi-winged group formation to bomb the Mitsubishi aircraft engine plant at Nagoya, Japan. He flew at the tail gunner on a B-29 #42-63499 nick named the “Coral Queen”. The Coral Queen was being piloted by

2Lt Joseph M Clinard and the skies were broken and visibility was 1 mile. All was according to plan that day until the return to North Field on Tinian. For unknown reasons, the Coral Queen was forced to ditch. Their last radio contact was at 23 degrees 00 minutes North latitude, 144 degrees 20 minutes East longitude, which translates to 570 miles north of their home base of Tinian, Mariana Islands. The following day, on February 16, 1945, a search B-29 reported hearing signals on 500 KC at 1125 K, and 1147K and 1202K . Visibility was restricted to less than one mile and no visible contact was made. Search planes and dumbers searched that area on February 17, 1945, but no survivors or aircraft were ever located. On board the Coral Queen are presumed dead, including Cpl James Flaherty.

Airmen who perished on B-29 #42-63499:

Beyers, John W. ~ Sgt, Radio Operator, IN

Bixby, Charles C. ~ 2nd Lt, Bombardier, NY

Clinard, Joseph M. ~ 2nd Lt, Pilot, TN

Damm, Vernon W. ~ Corp, Right Gunner, CA

Davis, James P. ~ Corp, Specialist Gunner, MA

Dembeck, William ~ Corp, Left Gunner, MD

Flaherty, James P. ~ Corp, Tail Gunner, D.C.

Lammers, Omer W. ~ T/Sgt, Engineer, OH

Langenberg, Lyle J. ~ 2nd Lt, Navigator, WI

Proctor, Robert M. ~ 1st Lt, Co-Pilot, NY

Williams, Clifford A. ~ Sgt, CFC, PA

Cpl James P Flaherty was survived by his parents, Dillon and Kathryn Flaherty, and brother, Dillon Flaherty, Jr.

A memorial marker was placed at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia to honor the memory of Cpl Flaherty. It is located at Section:ME Grave:123. His name is also listed on the Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii. May his sacrifice and memory never fade from our hearts.

Awards:

Purple Heart

Air Medal

Asiatic/Pacific Campaign Medal

World War II Victory Medal

Army Good Conduct Medal

American Defense Medal

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see https://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 Together We Served and on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story. If you have any details, photos, or corrections for this story, please email me by clicking on my name.

Debi Lehman - dklehman81@gmail.com Contributing Author, Stories Behind the Stars

SBTS/Washington, DC

Sources:

Evening Star (Washington, District of Columbia)19 Apr 1945, ThuPage 2

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/529993286/james-p-flaherty

https://www.fold3.com/record/83792784/james-p-flaherty-wwii-army-enlistment-records

MACR 12175 for #42-63499

1940 US Census

Findagrave.com/JamesFlaherty.

U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1970 for James Patrick Flaherty

https://www.genealogybank.com/THE EVENING STAR. Wednesday, Feb 20, 1946 Washington (DC), DC Page: 2