A few years ago, (maybe 10) he wrote down the names of 2 crew members and asked me to try and find them for him. They were Charles Faust III and Jack Karn. By some miracle, I stumbled upon a geaneology website where I found the name Charles Faust III. I sent an email to the person who ran the site, and got 3 responses. The first was from that person telling me that they were, in fact related to a Charles Faust III, and he was, in fact in the Air Force in WWII. The second email was from his daughter. The third email was from Charles Faust III himself.
I couldn't believe it. It was so much easier than I thought it should have been, but I was happy about that. Unfortunately, that's where the story ends. Or does it? I gave my grandpa the information, but I never found out if he saw those guys again. I did find out that he has been in touch with a different member of the crew all along, and (after much digging) I even found a few things he sent my grandpa in the mail. A Mr. Tony Zaranka sent some photocopies of crew pictures (that didn't turn out very well) and a newsletter from the 20th Air Force Association. The most recent piece of mail was sent out February 21, 2002. I have no idea if this man is still alive, but you bet your britches I'm going to find out.
After watching the WWII special last week, I started thinking about that again. I started wondering if maybe there was any way I could find out anything else.

I already knew that he was a Flight Engineer on a B-29 and I knew that he was in Okinawa. I know his crew was named "Reeves Raiders" thanks to his beautiful hand-painted sheepskin jacket. I also have this strange memory of being told that he was on the beach in Japan when the tide came in and swept him out to sea where he had to cling on to the coral for dear life...but nobody else remembers that story. Did I make it up? How could I? It's a weird scenario if you think about it, and not one a small child could make up.

Anyway, I started searching the same way I did before. Not much to go by, and not sure where to start. somehow, I ended up here. Towards the bottom, you will find the name Ralph Howe under the B-29 "Willful Witch" along with Charles Faust, Jack Karn, Anthony Zaranka, and the rest of the crew. The First name on the list is Roy Reeves, the pilot. One thing I couldn't understand was the name of the plane. Willful Witch? When I looked that up, I found a completely different crew, and my grandpa's jacket says Reeves Raiders...
From the first website, I was able to determine with some degree of certainty that my grandpa was part of the 463rd Bomb Squadron of the 346th Bomb Group. I went from there and found this.
If you search Wikipedia, (and of course I can't find it right now) it will tell you they were too late, and never saw combat. According to my other sources, this is not entirely true...
Because it's a long story, I'm going to go ahead and quote snippets from the websites. If you want to read the entire thing, check out the links. If you're already bored and ready to quit reading, I'm sorry. I'm having a hard time shortening it up because I want to include as many details as I can, and I want to get it right. They trained in Pratt, Kansas...and that's where I'm starting. "...the squadron took hold rapidly, kept the planes of the 29th in the air, and started to make a name for itself that eventually led to its being the pride and envy of the whole 346th Bomb Group."
"The 463rd set the first record in the maximum number of hours flown in a week, its maintenance led the other two Squadrons, and its crews flew successfully through all kinds of weather (including hailstorms) despite the predictions of base weather, which was almost invariably 100% wrong. In training missions accomplished, AAF minimum standards completed and in total hours in the air, the 463rd, led all the rest."
After Pratt, they went to Puerto Rico for over water training, and then came back. There they continued training and were scheduled to go to California in August, and then on to the Pacific theater.
"Early in June three crews, those of Lts. Dickinson, Frey, and Reeves received orders to take off for the theater where they were to fly with the Twentieth Air Force, to absorb experience which they could pass on to their fellow crews later on. They took off with mingled emotions, but all were proud they had been chosen and they soon piled up an enviable combat record. They were the only crews in the squadron to see combat."

Here's an incomplete picture of the crew that was taken the day they left Pratt. Front row: Edmund Papel, Jack Karn, Ralph Howe, James Cain. Second row: F.P. Montgomery, Clarence J. Stout, Stanley L. Dick, Roy Reeves, Charles C. Faust III. Not pictured are Earl Jenkins and Anthony Zaranka.
Shortly after they left, the orders came for the rest of the group. They took a train to Washington, where they boarded a ship. It took them 37 days to get to Okinawa, and they were too late for combat. They didn't turn around and go home right away though. There were things to be done, so they set up shop in Okinawa. I am unsure of exactly when my grandpa's crew left Pratt and arrived in Guam, and I don't know how soon after the rest followed. I don't know exactly when they rejoined the rest of the group in Okinawa either.

Apparantly, there were a couple of Typhoons that hit Okinawa in September and October. The one in October knocked down all but one of the tents, and there were over 50 in all. I'm guessing this is where the coral story came from.

"The three 'advance' crews, which had left Pratt early in June rejoined the squadron in October after establishing a record in combat of which the entire squadron could justly be proud. All three had flown a series of the toughest kind of missions from the Marianas bases."
As far as I know, the Reeves Raiders flew with the 30th Squadron of the 19th Bomb Group, which is part of the 314th Bomb Wing of the 20th Air force. Say that ten times fast!
From North Field, Guam they successfully completed the following missions:
24 July Tsu
26 July Omuta
27 July Handa
29 July Ogaki
5 August Kobe
8 August Tokyo
14 August Isesaki
2 September Tokyo (Display of Strength)

I'm still looking for more information. So far I haven't been able to find one single letter that my grandpa wrote to anyone during the war, or during his training. I can't believe he didn't write any letters. As far as I know, letter-writing was pretty big then. There's a box of letters that were written to my grandma from a couple different guys, but that's another blog for another day and a lot more research.