Last ride of the Extra Joker
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Ford B-24H-30-FO B-24 H Liberator, s/n 42-95379, ‘Extra Joker’ in the last photo taken of her on August 23, 1944.
She belonged to the 725th Bombardment Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group. 15th US Air Force. (USAF Photo/Colorized by Royston Leonard)
Joker was attacked by German Fw-190s over Turnitz, Austria while on a daylight raid.
All 10 crew members, consisting of the regular crew of THUNDER MUG (42-7475), were KIA.
The lost crew members spanned from coast to coast and ten different states:
1st Lt. Kenneth A. Whiting – pilot Salt Lake City, Utah
1st Lt. Alvin W. Moore – copilot McMinnville, Oregon
2nd Lt. Francis J. Bednarek – navigator Ashley, Pennsylvania
2nd Lt. Edward S. Waneski – bombardier Brooklyn, New York
Sgt. Peter Breda – top turret gunner Lima, Ohio
Sgt. Harry V. Bates – ball turret gunner Reinholds, Pennsylvania
Sgt. Joseph Garbacz – right waist gunner Detroit, Michigan
S/Sgt. Milton R. Nitsch – left waist gunner Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Sgt. Elmer J. Anderson – nose turret gunner Los Angeles, California
Sgt. Oscar W. Bateman – tail turret gunner Baton Rouge, Louisiana
After the war the 725th was inactivated for 15 years before being stood up as the 725th Strategic Missile Squadron, manning HGM-25A Titan I ICBM missile silos. Once Titan was withdrawn, the 725th was shuttered for a final time on 25 June 1965.