November 4, 1923 --- June 6, 1944
Staff Sergeant John Robert McGrath, son of Atty. and Mrs. Everett [Evert] McGrath has been reported missing in action. A telegram to that effect was received Monday.
Sgt. McGrath, who was a nose gunner in a Liberator bomber, went on his last mission June 6th and has been missing since that time.
He enlisted in the Army about a year ago. He attended Coe College nearly a year after his graduation from the Eagle Grove high school where he was a star basketball player. He received his training at Kessler Field, Miss., and at Peterson Field, Colo., and had been overseas in the Italian area about a month. Sgt. McGrath's parents received a letter from him the first of the month. No additional word has been received from the war department since initial telegram relative to Sgt. McGrath being missing in action.
Source: Eagle Grove Eagle --- Eagle Grove, Iowa June 22, 1944
Sgt. John McGrath Drowned As Bomber Crashed In Adriatic Sea
Mr and Mrs Evert R. McGrath have received a letter from navigator of the bomber crew which their son, Staff Sergeant John R. McGrath was a member, giving some of the details of the mission Sergeant McGrath and six other crew members lost their lives.
The Liberator bomber, of which Sergeant McGrath was nose turret gunner, departed its base at Pantanella, Italy, on a mission to the Ploesti, Rumania oil fields, on June 6. Heavy flak was encountered over the target area and one engine was shot out and set afire.
The fire was successfully extinguished and after dropping their bombs the plane began the flight back to base on three engines. The fuel transfer system, also shot out, and other damage suffered by the plane, but after a conference between the crew members on the inter-phone it was decided to try and reach home base.
The plane maintained its position in formation across Rumania and Yugoslavia, and just as they crossed the Yugoslavian coast and began the one hundred fifty mile water jump across the Adriatic sea, the remaining engines failed, and the pilot ordered all crew members to take their positions in the plane for ditching in the sea.
The plane made a gradual decent into the sea and they hit the water very hard. The sea was very rough. The pilot, co-pilot, radio man, and tail gunner were killed in the impact. The other crew members were able to get out of the plane, and the navigator reported that he saw Sergeant McGrath inflate his life vest and jump from the plane into the sea and that he was apparently alright.
The navigator, top-turret gunner, and engineer luckily caught hold of a piece of wreckage from the plane, the nose wheel, which being still inflated was buoyant enough to enable them to survive with the aid of their life vests, and they were picked up two and one half hours later by the sea rescue patrol. The sea was so rough that the bombardier, the ball turret gunner and Sergeant McGrath were unable to survive even in life jackets.
Sergeant McGrath and his crew went overseas the latter part of April, 1944, and reached their base in Italy about the 1st of May. They had been on eight missions prior to the last one, and had bombed targets in northern Italy and the Balkans.
Their B-24 four engined bomber called "Question Mark" was flown by the crew to Italy from Topeka, Kansas, by way of South America and Africa.
Source: Eagle Grove Eagle --- Eagle Grove, Iowa August 31, 1944
Memorial Service For Sgt. McGrath
Memorial services for the late Sgt. John McGrath of the U. S. Army Air Force will be held at the Methodist church, this coming Sunday afternoon at 4 o’clock. Sgt. McGrath lost his life in action June 6, 1944. He is a son of Mr. and Mrs. Everett [Evert] McGrath of this city.
Source: Eagle Grove Eagle ---- Eagle Grove, Iowa September 28, 1944
TRIBUTES PAID SGT. McGRATH LAST SUNDAY
Hundreds of Friends and Acquaintances Present At the Methodist Church For Memorial Service.
Memorial services for Sgt. McGrath were held at the Methodist church last Sunday afternoon at 4 o'clock. The Rev. W. L. Breaw of Humboldt brought the memorial message and a tribute to Sgt. McGrath was given by A. B. Parsons of the high school faculty. The American Legion had charge of the flag ceremonial at the conclusion of the services.
The Rev. O. W. Tompkins was in charge of the service and added a fine tribute to Sgt. McGrath who lost his life in the Adriatic sea, following a successful bombing mission. The remains have been recovered and now lie in a grave somewhere in Italy.
Order of Service
Organ prelude, Mrs. George DeForest. Comfort of the Scriptures, Prayer Rev. C W. Tompkins. Solo, "There Is No Death", Marcus Boe. Life of John Robert McGrath, Rev. C. W. Tompkins. A Tribute, A. B. Parsons. Memorial Message, Rev. W. L. Breaw. Flag Ceremony, American Legion. Postlude, Mrs. George DeForest.
The young air corps man's life history was read by the Rev. C. W. Tompkins: John Robert McGrath, the eldest child of Evert and Mary P. McGrath, was born November 4, 1923. He grew to manhood in Eagle Grove, where he attended the public schools, graduating in the class of 1941. After attending the Eagle Grove Junior College for one year, he entered Coe college in the fall of 1942, terminating his studies there to enter the United States Army on January 27, 1943. While in school he was much interested in the sport of basketball, and received numerous recognitions of his skill in the game from his conference and in the state. He was the captain of his team the last two years in high school. While a small child he was baptized by Rev. W. G. Muhleman, and when 16 years of age became a member of the Methodist church of this city. For two years he served as secretary of the Sunday School of the church. He took his basic army training at Sheppard Field, Texas, where he qualified for combat crew training in the Army Air Force, and in April, 1943 he entered training as an aerial gunner at the Air Force training base at Laredo, Texas, from which he graduated and was awarded gunner's wings on May 15, 1943. He was then transferred to the Air Force Technical School at Keesler Field, Biloxi, Miss., where he completed the army aviation mechanics course on the B-24 Liberator bomber, graduating in November, 1943. After a ten day furlough at home he reported to the Air Force Replacement Center at Salt Lake City, from which he was transferred to Peterson Field, Colorado Springs where he was assigned to a crew and entered his combat crew training. There he and the other nine members of his crew spent three months in combat training, flying both day and night high altitude practice bombing missions. On April 15, 1944, he and his crew were transferred to Topeka, Kansas, where they obtained their new Liberator heavy bomber, which they named "Question Mark," and within a few days left the United States by way of West Palm Beach, Florida, for Italy, to which area they had been assigned. Sgt. McGrath was nose turret gunner and armorer aboard his plane. They flew to Italy by way of South America and Africa, and reached their base at Pantanella, Italy, about May 1, 1944. On June 6, 1944, flying their ninth mission, his crew took part in the bombing of the Ploesti, Rumanian oil fields, a flight of six hundred miles from their base, and while over the target the plane suffered severe damage from ground antiaircraft fire, and enroute to their home base their plane, flying on three engines, crashed in the Adriatic Sea with the loss of Sgt. McGrath and six other members of the crew. In a military service, his body was laid to rest in a United States Military Cemetery in Italy. He leaves of his immediate family, his parents, two brothers, Don, now awaiting call into the service, and David, and one sister, Frances.
The following is the prayer given at the time of the briefing for Sgt. McGrath's last mission. "O God, Thou who has created the heavens and the earth, and in Thy natural law hast made it possible for man to sustain himself in flight through the air, we ask Thy blessing upon these men as they go out to fly high into the sky, higher than any bird has flown Thou knowest the thrill within the heart of every man that files. Grant unto them courage, that they may do their work well; protect them against the assaults of the enemy; and give them unfaltering faith in Thee. We ask it in the name of Him who has given us power over all the things of this earth—the name of Jesus Christ, our Saviour.” Amen.
Taken from the Church Bulletin of Sunday, May 14, 1944 of the 465th Bomb Group (H) H. R. Blouch Group Chaplain.
Source: Eagle Grove Eagle --- Eagle Grove, Iowa October 5, 1944
John Robert McGrath was born Nov. 4, 1923 to Everett Robert and Mary Frances Donly McGrath. He died June 6, 1944 and is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing, Florence American Cemetery and Memorial, Florence, Italy. He has a cenotaph at Rose Hill Cemetery, Eagle Grove, IA.
Sgt. McGrath served as a gunner on B-24H, #42-52575, 782nd Bomber Squadron, 465th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He became MIA on a mission over Ploesti, Romania when the plane crashed into the Adriatic Sea just off the coast of Yugoslavia. He was later declared KIA and awarded an Air Medal and Purple Heart.
Sources: World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel from Iowa; ancestry.com
