Unidentified ship.Over Ploesti.

1st Lt. Enoch M. Porter Jr. was the pilot of the aircraft on the August 1, 1943 Ploesti mission. Reed listed him as "believed dead." Reed saw five dead bodies in the airplane after reaching the ground and reported that most crew members appeared on the Romanian Army's death list. Porter's fate was confirmed as KIA based on this evidence.

Flight Officer Joe Boswell served as co-pilot on the August 1, 1943 Ploesti mission. Reed listed him as "believed dead." Reed's account of five dead bodies in the wreckage and the Romanian Army death list support the determination that Boswell did not survive the mission.

2nd Lt. Raymond Warner was the navigator. Reed listed him as "freed" on the crew questionnaire. Warner was hit in the back and shoulder before the plane went down. Warner bailed out and his parachute opened. Both Reed and crewman Vest were told by a local informant that Lt. Warner was alive after the crash. He was eventually freed, likely alongside other POWs released after Romania's surrender in 1944.

2nd Lt. Jesse D. Franks was the bombardier. Reed listed him as "believed dead." Reed noted that whether Franks' parachute opened was unknown. Given the extremely low bailout altitude of 100 to 150 feet, survival by parachute was uncertain. Reed's observation of unidentifiable bodies at the crash site and the Romanian Army death list supported the belief that Franks did not survive.

T/Sgt Frank C. Ferrel was the flight engineer. Reed listed him as "believed dead" on the Ploesti mission of August 1, 1943. Ferrel's fate is consistent with Reed's report of five dead bodies in the destroyed aircraft and the Romanian Army death list, which Reed confirmed seeing.

T/Sgt Bernard R. Lucas served as radio operator. Reed listed him as "believed dead" on the crew questionnaire. Lucas was struck in the back by what Reed described as a 20mm round before the plane went down. Reed's separate report to the Adjutant General's office specifically cited Lucas as having been hit in the back. Given this wound and the low-altitude loss of the aircraft, Lucas is believed to have been killed on August 1, 1943.

S/Sgt Charles A. Reed (ASN 12146765) was the tunnel/waist gunner aboard a 93rd Bomb Group B-24 on the August 1, 1943 low-level raid on Ploesti, Romania (Operation Tidal Wave). He was born October 16, 1923, and had 23 months of service at the time of the mission. This was his seventh mission. Reed was wounded during the mission — an approximately 20mm explosion just at the waist position knocked him back across the camera hatch, cutting his leg at the thigh from either flak or a piece of the aircraft. He bailed out at roughly 100 to 150 feet altitude with his parachute opening. Romanian soldiers confiscated his aids box, purse (maps, compass, currency), and additional compass upon landing. After capture, Reed was held in Romania. He was eventually released as a prisoner of war following Romania's surrender in August 1944. He signed a security certificate at Bari, Italy on September 4, 1944, and departed for the UK from Bari by air on September 7, 1944, arriving on September 9, 1944. Reed reported that civilian morale in Romania was very low throughout his time there. He observed that the Germans appeared to have moved many troops south from Hungary into Romania immediately before Romania's surrender. His advice for future evaders: stay away from railroads, main roads, and bridges, as local civilians would not help him.

S/Sgt James R. Vest served as waist gunner. Reed listed him as "freed." Vest was wounded — his face was bleeding before the bailout. His parachute opened successfully. After landing, Vest was brought to Reed at a house while both were prisoners of Romanian forces. Both men were told that Lt. Warner was alive. Vest was eventually freed, most likely after Romania's surrender in August 1944, and returned to duty.

S/Sgt Earl L. Frost was the tail gunner. Reed listed him as "believed dead" on the August 1, 1943 Ploesti mission. Frost's fate is consistent with Reed's account of five dead bodies found in the wreckage and the Romanian Army death list. He is believed to have been killed when the aircraft went down at low altitude over Ploesti.