JULY 24, 1945, BOMBING RUN FROM THE USS HANCOCK CV 19
The crew consisted of the following three people:
Navy Lt. Clarence A. Tiegee
Jack S. Keeley, Aviation Radioman Third Class
Luther P. Johnson, Aviation Ordnanceman Third Class
Information provided by Mr. HIROYUKI FUKAO of Japan
On July 24, 1945, in the Kure area, which was Japan's leading naval port, was subjected to a large-scale attack by American carrier-based aircraft. This included many of the aircraft from the USS Hancock CV19.The attack resulted in the downing of more than 20 American planes. Navy Lt. Clarence A. Tiegee plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed while attacking the aircraft carrier Amagi (or battleship Hyuga). The TBM crashed in a residential area, setting 10 houses on fire. This resulted in the deaths of four local people. Lt. Clarence A. Tiegee died when his parachute did not open and crashed into Hatanoyama in Ondo Town. Jack S. Keeley PO 3 died in the crash. Mr. Fukao reports both were given a very respectful funeral by the local people.
Luther P. Johnson Ordnanceman Third Class parachuted down and hid in the mountains for 12 days but was captured on August 3 and sent to the Kure Navy Prison. After the war ended, he was transferred to Navy Ofuna POW Camp on August 17 and returned to the United States.
When the TBM crashed, this area had lost many family members in the war, so hatred was directed extremely at the soldiers of the enemy country. However, Kazo Furukawa, the representative of the Fujiwaki area, told them,
"Their parents must be in America. How do the soldiers' parents feel? We must not disturb the bodies of American soldiers." In this way, Mr. Furukawa calmed the local people.
(By the way, Mr. Furukawa lost his wife and three children during the war.)
Once a person dies, they are free from sin. I want to mourn them just as I would my own son or daughter. With this explanation, he persuaded the local residents to cremate the bodies of American soldiers. Initially, he built a wooden cross (probably on a mountain he owned).
In 1951, the United States and Japan signed the Treaty of Peace with Japan.
At this time he replaced it with a stone cross.
Mr. Hiroyuko Fukao visited the crash site and the cross. To his surprise, they told him, "No American officials have visited here". He wanted to somehow convey this information to the family.
"Could we work together to find the families of the TBM that crashed here?". He said.
March 28, 2026
History of the Marukoyama Peace Monument and the “Grave of the U.S. Navy Brave Flyers”
On a clear morning just after 10 a.m. on July 24, 1945, one of the TBM aircraft from the American
aircraft carrier Hancock was hit during an attack on the aircraft carrier Amagi or the battleship Hyuga.
The damaged aircraft, trailing flames, crashed into a house in the center of the Fujinowaki district.
Of the three TBM crew members, one was unable to escape and died in the crash. Two bailed out by
parachute, but one fell to his death when his parachute failed to open. The third crewman fled through
the mountains for 12 days before being captured by a Japanese naval unit.
The crash caused a major disaster in the area: 12 houses were completely destroyed by fire, two were
partially burned, and four residents lost their lives. In the burnt ruins, the charred body of a U.S. pilot
was found, causing an uproar, and some enraged villagers directed their anger toward the body of the
American airman. Witnessing this, the head of the local community, Kazuzou Furukawa, admonished
the villagers, saying, “You must not do such a thing. This pilot is not to blame.”
Believing that the fallen American soldier must also have had parents and siblings, Mr. Furukawa
buried the pilot’s body on his own farmland that same afternoon. At that time, Furukawa himself was
enduring deep personal loss: his eldest son, an Army soldier, had been killed in action on New Britain
Island seven months earlier. Ten days after the crash, on August 6th, his 15-year-old daughter went
missing in the Hiroshima atomic bombing, and his wife—who had gone to search for her—was also
exposed to radiation and died. The emotional burden he carried during that period is beyond imagining.
After the war, when the Allied Occupation Forces (GHQ) came to investigate the crash, they expressed
their gratitude for Furukawa’s humane actions, and the local community once again recognized his
great compassion.
Following the signing of the Treaty of Peace with Japan on September 8, 1951, in San Francisco, Mr.
Furukawa erected a large memorial monument on the top of a small hill (Marukoyama) located about
700 meters east of the TBM crash site, to mourn his wife, son, and daughter. Next to this, he built a
1.5-meter-tall cross-shaped gravestone on a stone base bearing the inscription “Grave of the U.S. Air
Force Brave Flyers”, saying that “the fallen pilot must also have had a family; whether enemy or ally
does not matter.”
Mr. Furukawa personally maintained the hiking path and the monuments for many years. However,
after his death, the memory of these monuments gradually faded.
Since 2006, volunteers from the surrounding community have been clearing brush, mowing the grass,
and maintaining the trail. Every around April, when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, a memorial
service is held. Flowers are offered at the gravestones, and all participants recite sutras to pray for the
repose of the souls of the Furukawa family and the aircrew.
March 28, 2026