In mid-December, 1943, Lt. Suitch received orders to proceed to Lincoln, Nebraska, to take possession of a newly-built B-24 Liberator bomber. The bomber assigned to Lt. Suitch's crew was built at the Consolidated plant in San Diego, California, as part of production block B-24J-95-CO. It cost over $336,000 to build at the time.
On February 24, 1944 as they passed over the Zuider Zee on their way to Gotha, Lt. Suitch's bomber lost an engine, possibly due to enemy fire. Lt. Suitch chose to carry on with the mission. At 1317,Lt. Peterson began the bomb run over Gotha. Two minutes later it was all over: the fourteen remaining bombers of the 445th had “cleared their racks.” As they headed back, they lost a second engine. Lt. Suitch and Capt. Waldher struggled to hold the B-24 in steady flight. As they lost speed and drifted back through the formation they prepared to bail out. What came next happened almost immediately: a catastrophic explosion up front. A rocket or 20mm cannon shell came through the nose. Whatever the cause, their plane had sustained an explosive hit that set the bomb bay on fire. Amazingly, eight of the nine men managed to get out of the crippled bomber before it split in two and crashed.