Lt. John Jay Suitch, pilot of B-24 J liberator #42-100374. Shot down after successfully bombing Gothaer Waggon Fabrik AG in Gotha on February 24, 1944. Their plane, already crippled and flying on two engines, next suffered a catastrophic explosion up front and Lt. Suitch gave the order to bail out. Two members of the crew did not survive the descent to the ground. The parachutes of Lt. Suitch and the navigator, Lt. Eckard, were damaged or malfunctioned, and both men were killed by the impact. S/Sgt. Ulmer, the tail gunner, had failed to get out of the plane.