T/Sgt. Bob E Graves was the Radio Operator/Gunner in the Trewitt flight crew. The Trewitt crew joined the 392nd Bombardment Squadron in Sep 1944. The squadron was based on Saipan. The main targets were Iwo Jima, Chichi Jima, and Haha Jima. In Feb 1945, the Trewitt crew was transferred to the 26th Bombardment Squadron (in the 11th Bombardment Group). They were based on Guam, and later based on Okinawa. Targets included China, Ryukyu Islands, and Japan.

The plane flown by the Trewitt flight crew was called TEXAS KATE (#44-40358).

The members of the Trewitt flight crew were:

Harvey S Trewitt Jr (Pilot)

John F Agee (Co-Pilot)

Farley W Warner (Navigator)

Halbert H Acker (Bombardier)

Aaron V J Williams (Engineer)

Bob E Graves (Radio Operator)

Joe E Davis (Nose Gunner)

Carl W Wardlaw (Tail Gunner)

Arthur Holquin (Waist Gunner)

Kale R Alexander (Gunner)

James B Fleming (Gunner)

Talbert Bennett (Gunner)

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Twin.Falls.ID.Times.News.03.Jan.1945

ARMY AIR FORCES, PACIFIC HEADQUARTERS. (Delayed) — Tech. Sgt. Bob E. Graves, Astoria, Ore., radio operator-top turret gunner of the seventh AAF Liberator bomber "Texas Kate", a member of a B-24 squadron commended by Brig. Gen. Truman H. Landon, former commanding general of the seventh bomber command, for its part in a day-long army-navy smash against Iwo Jima. The heavy blow hit island installations and Jap shipping with the combined striking power of the fourth bomber command’s B-29s, the Superfortresses of the 21st bomber command and an American naval bombardment. It was the greatest attack by the seventh bomber command and navy spotting planes reported the bombing of the Liberators to be excellent. Three bomber squadrons received the special commendation from General Landon. Sergeant Graves and other crew members of the ‘Texas Kate,” interviewed at a seventh AAF rest camp in the Hawaiian islands during a relief from combat duty, related that the parade of aircraft between the base and the target looked like Fifth avenue traffic in New York city. The B-24s followed the B-29s over the target at a lower altitude, catching only occasional glimpses of Iwo Jima through heavy clouds. The Liberators made their bomb runs without Jap fighter opposition and the navy observers reported direct hits on many of the targets. It was the “Texas Kate’s" 21st mission without incurring damage from flak or enemy interceptors.

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Ft.Worth.Star.Telegram.02.Feb.1945

Texas Pilot Has Mishap on 22nd Mission

Lt. John F. Agee, son of Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Agee. 2943 Sixth Ave., co-pilot of “Texas Kate.” 7th AAF Liberator bomber in the Marianas, completed 21 missions without a mishap, but ran into trouble on the 22nd. His 7th AAF Heavy Bomber Base in the Marianas, has announced details of that mission which Agee had previously written his parents about. The “Texas Kate” had just completed its bomb run over Jap installations on Iwo Jima in the Bonin Islands when heavy anti-aircraft fire violently rocked the bomber. When the smoke cleared away, Lieutenant Agee and the remainder of the crew found that the enemy shell had knocked a big hole in the bomber’s wing, ripping into the metal between the numbers three and four engines. In addition, flak had punctured the tail turret and put its guns out of commission. Fortunately no one was injured, and no serious damage had been done to the bomber, so "Texas Kate” returned to the base safely. "I’ve never seen anti-aircraft fire any thicker or more accurate than it was over Iwo Jima that day,” Lieutenant Agee said. “They were sending up a barrage that blackened the sky and very few of the airplanes in the formation escaped without holes.”