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| Lt. Loren Barstow (standing on right) and his F-7A(B-24) crew. |
Loren G. Barstow could have been 100 years old today.
He was born on April 2, 1917 in Michigan. His parents were both born in Wisconsin. His father was a timber dealer and later owned a fish business. Loren had three older sisters and three younger sisters. By 1940 Loren had completed high school and moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a sheet metal worker in the aircraft industry.
Loren enlisted in the Army Air Corp on April 10, 1942 as a private but rose to the rank of 1st lieutenant. He became a B-24 pilot in the 20th Combat Mapping Squadron, 6th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, 5th Air Force.
Lt. Barstow's B-24 was converted from a bomber to a photo-recon Liberator (F-7A). It went by the name Under Exposed. Serving in the Pacific, Under Exposed flew missions to photograph enemy targets in New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies.
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| The converted B-24 Lt. Barstow crashed into Mt. Wilhelm. http://b-24.weebly.com/before--after2.html |
Lt. Barstow was piloting his second combat mapping mission on May 22, 1944 taking off from Nadzab Airfield in New Guinea. Shortly after takeoff, the Under Exposed crashed into Mount Wilhelm, the highest mountain in New Guinea at the 13,000 foot level. There were no survivors.
His remains were returned to be buried at Cedar River Cemetery, Stephenson, Michigan.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
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