John J. Stainker.
Tail Gunner · 328th Squadron · Of NJ.
The Man Behind the Name
S/Sgt. John J. Stainker served as tail gunner on B-24D 42-40990, 328th Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group on the 7 January 1944 mission to Ludwigshafen.
Stainker was last seen in the tail turret when crew members took their respective gun positions before the aircraft was hit. Whether he bailed out was unknown to the surviving crew members who completed questionnaires.
French locals reported a couple of days after the crash that two bodies were found in the burned wreckage of the plane. Stainker was listed as MIA on the original MACR. His ultimate fate was not confirmed in the surviving records, though the circumstantial evidence from French witnesses suggests he may have died in the aircraft.
Service record.
Missions flown.
The missions below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.