The B-24D Liberator 41-11768, 'KICKAPOO', was piloted by Lt. John S. Young from Dallas, Texas as part of the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bombing Squadron, which arrived in North Africa in early 1943. This airplane and was Lt. Young's second regularly assigned aircraft flying out of Berca and Lete Airfields at Benghazi, Libya in the Mediterranean theater of World War II in 1943 after his first B-24 was shot down by German fighters earlier in an air fight off the coast of Crete. Later in August of 1943, for Operation Tidal Wave, against Ploesti, Lt. Young and most of his regular crew from the 'KICKAPOO' were reassigned, just before the mission, by Col. John R. Kane, who wanted them for his crew and Lt. Young to fly with him as his co-pilot in the 98th Bomb Group's lead ship, the B-24D, 'Hail Columbia', renamed by Kane for his alma mater, Columbia University. Young's regular airplane, 'KICKAPOO', was reassigned to another of the 344th Bombing Squadron's pilots, his friend, 1st Lt. Robert Nespor also from the 98th Bomb Group, and Lt. John C. Riley, Nespor's replacement co-pilot, assigned from the 93rd Bomb Group with a replacement crew, also from the 93rd Bomb Group, for the Ploesti mission.

But, the morning of the mission, fate dealt Lt. Nespor, Lt. Riley, and their replacement crew, a very bad hand when 'KICKAPOO''s number 4 engine failed and caught fire just after getting airborne. Lt. Nespor and co-pilot, John Riley, crashed and were killed while desperately and heroically trying to save their valuable ship, instead of bailing out or ditching it into the Mediterranean Sea.

After jettisoning all of his bombs over the water, Lt. Nespor requested being guided back to the field for an emergency landing, but was forced to abort and circle around due to conflicting aircraft still taking off at Lete. With 'Kickapoo' now fully on fire, he made a second approach to the field from the West. While doing so, he began losing power from his remaining three engines. On fire, with failing engines, and sinking, on short final approach, 'KICKAPOO' landed hard, bounced, drifted off to the left, and a wing tip clipped a concrete pole next to the runway, cartwheeling the plane into the ground where it exploded in flames, killing Lt. Nespor, his co-pilot, Lt. John Riley, and all but two of the rest of the crew, Lt. Russell W. Polivka, the navigator, and S/Sgt. Eugene R. Garner, gunner, who both survived despite severe burns.

The photo above, shows Lt. John Young's crew standing in front of 'KICKAPOO' 41-11768, with Lt. Young on the far right hand side of this photo and his crew. 'KICKAPOO' was named by Lt. Young after "Kickapoo Joy Juice" from Al Capp's cartoon, "Lil Abner". Col. John Kane, John Young, Lt. Harry Korger, and Lt. Norman Whalen, and all the men in Kane's plane, 'Hail Columbia' survived the Ploesti mission without major injury in spite of over 150 flak holes in the aircraft. 'KICKAPOO' was destroyed, and all but two of it's crew were killed in the flaming crash just after take-off for the Ploesti mission, at Lete Airfield the morning of August 1, 1943.
'KICKAPOO's regular crew :
- Lt. John S. Young - Pilot - Reassigned to 'Hail Columbia' for Ploesti mission
- Lt. Norman M. Whalen - Navigator - Reassigned to 'Hail Columbia' for Ploesti mission
- Lt. Harold F. Korger - Bombardier - Reassigned to 'Hail Columbia' for Ploesti mission
- Fredrick A. Leard - Waist Gunner - Reassigned to 'Hail Columbia' for Ploesti Mission
- William Leo - Tail Gunner - Reassigned to 'Hail Columbia' for Ploesti mission
- Raymond B. Hubbard - Radio Operator - Reassigned To 'Hail Columbia' for Ploesti mission
- Joseph J. LaBranche - TB - Reassigned to 'Hail Columbia' for Ploesti mission
- Harvey L. Treace - Engineer / Top Turret Gunner - Reassigned to 'Hail Columbia' for Ploesti mission
- Nevill C. Bensen - Waist Gunner - Reassigned to 'Hail Columbia' for Ploesti mission
- 'Hail Columbia' completed mission, crash landed Cyprus. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'KICKAPOO''s reassigned crew for Ploesti bombing mission : --- 1st Lt. Robert J. Nespor - Pilot - (KIA) - Died two weeks later from his burns 2nd Lt. John C. Riley - Co Pilot (KIA) Detached Service from 93rd BG
2nd Lt. Russell W. Polivka - Navigator (WIA) D.S. from 93rd BG
T/Sgt. Vaun D. Wenrich - Engineer/Top Turret (KIA) D.S. from 93rd BG T/Sgt. Armand R. Massart - Radio Op (KIA) D.S. from 93rd BG
S/Sgt. George W. Lawlor - Gunner (KIA) D.S. from 93rd BG S/Sgt. Edwin G. Sliwa - Gunner (KIA) D.S. from 93rd BG
S/Sgt. Eugene R. Garner - Gunner (WIA) D.S. from 93rd BG S/Sgt. John P. D'Armour - Gunner (KIA) D.S. from 93rd BG ~ 'KICKAPOO' crashed on takeoff for Ploesti mission - destroyed 1 Aug 1943

Service

Events

Event	Location	Date
Crashed	Benghazi, Libya	1 August 1943
Crashed shortly after take-off for the August 1, 1943 low-level Ploesti, Romania mission. She lost No 4 engine just after getting airborne, after jettisoning all bombs at sea, 'KICKAPOO' was guided back for an emergency landing. Due to a conflicting aircraft on the runway, 1st Lt Nespor was forced to approach the field from the West. In doing so a wing tip smashed into a concrete pole and burst into flames, killing Nespor and all but two of the crew.