Sgt. Stanley Sabastenski was the top turret gunner in the B-24 Jack Pot
that operated out of New Guinea.
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=140882996&ref=acom
https://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-24/42-40280.html
Stanley Peter Sabastenski never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on November 19, 1917 in Maine. His parents Anthony and Josephine were both born in Poland. His father worked as a wholesale grocery shipper and later a construction laborer. Stanley had one older sister, seven younger brothers, and a younger sister. By 1940 Stanley had completed four years of high school and worked as a laborer while living with his family.
He enlisted in the Army Air Forces on September 27, 1940 with orders to go to Hawaii. He became a staff sergeant and top turret gunner in B-24 Liberators in the 321st Bombardment Squad, 90th Bombardment Group that operated out of New Guinea.
On November 11, 1943 Sgt. Sabastenski was aboard the B-24 Jack Pot when it took off from Port Moresby on a mission to bomb Rabaul. The mission was aborted due to bad weather and the planes returned to base. While attempting to land, Jack Pot collided with another B-24. The other B-24 was badly damaged, but managed to land safely. Jack Pot exploded when its full bomb load hit the ground. All onboard were killed.
Sgt. Sabastenski's grave is at Calvary, Cemetery in South Portland, Maine.
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!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
I think my great uncle, Francois Harry Van Horn was on this plane. He was part of the 321st BS 90th BG and was KIA on November 11th, 1943 on or around Port Moresby, New Guinea. Do you have any more information?
ReplyDeleteKathleen,
DeleteYour great uncle was on the plane. If you Google B-24 42-40280 (the plane's number) you should be able to find websites that refer to this.