Robert J. Hymel was born in 1920 in Louisiana. He resided in Richland Parish, Louisiana prior to the war. Robert served as a Second Lieutenant and Radar Operator on B-29 #42-6230, 792nd Bomber Squadron, 468th Bomber Group, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

B-29 #42-6230 took off from Pengshan, China on a bombing mission over Japan. They were shot down over Wakamatsu Fukuoka, Japan by a Japanese fighter plane. This aircraft and crew had the distinction of being the first B-29 shot down over Japan. All eleven crew members were Killed in Action on this mission along with one civilian. Robert was "Killed In Action" on this mission during the war. He was originally interred overseas and was later in the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri, USA on August 8, 1949 in a common grave with his crew.

Robert 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