John Valentine Briggette was born in 1922. He served in the India-China Wing, Air Transport Command as a Private First Class. Briggette was a Radio Operator in C-46A #41-24708 who went missing. This aircraft departed Mohanbari, India at 0423 GMT on 31 Jan 1944 for Kunming, China on a routine cargo flight over the Hump. The route was overcast with cloud tops above 24,000 ft. Winds were out of the SW and estimated to be 70 mph at 18,000 ft. Approximately 50% of the flight would have been flown on instruments and further complicated by the high winds.

There is no record of radio contact from the aircraft. The last known position, cause or nature of the aircraft loss is not known. It is believed the crash may have been caused by bad weather, mechanical failure or a sudden catastrophic event. The cause of the crash was probably so sudden and so severe that the pilot didn’t have time to radio a mayday call. The pilot had made 35 round trips on this route. Three other men perished. Having actually gone "Missing" on the above date, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until April 4, 1946. His name is commemorated on the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City, Philippines. He also has a cenotaph located in Saint Stephen Cemetery, Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio, USA.

John was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, https://www.miarecoveries.org/reports/