Crew 43

The crew of the "Lancer" left the Continental U.S. April 1945. They were assigned to the 62nd Bomb Squadron and flew their first mission on Kanoya April 21. It was the first 22 missions they would fly. Captain Edmond T. "Red" Arvin, Jr., 1st Lt Stanly A. Lapinski and S/Sgt James C. Wilkes, Jr. were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (per GO 64 Section XXXI dated 15 Sept 1945, issued by HQ 20th AF) for the 11 May mission on the Kawanishi Aircraft Factory at Kobe, Japan. The crew was awarded the Air Medal 4 June and another 20 July 1945. After an aborted mission of 3:30 hours on August 10, the men of the "Lancer" were flying back to the United States for ten day stay at the Rest and Recreation Center. They missed the end of the war by just a few days. No one ever made any reference about being "sad" concerning this situation. No boat ride or the pleasure of the "Sunset" trips months later. Martin McDonough shared the following about the name "Lancer": "This was the name of a lesser known fighter plane - of limited production - a forerunner to the P-47. Capt Arvin knew of this and it was his idea to nickname our P43 "Lancer". " Martin painted "Lancer" on the nose of their B-29; in addition he painted the names or nickname if they prefered next to each man's window.