Menu
  • Abous us
  • Search database
  • Resources
  • Donate
  • Faq

Markham Donald F.

Name:
Donald F. Markham
Rank:
Staff Sergeant
Serial Number:
39210244
Unit:
22nd Bomber Squadron, 341st Bomber Group, Medium
Date of Death:
1945-05-29
State:
Washington
Cemetery:
Manila American Cemetery, Taguig, Philippines
Plot:
Walls of the Missing
Row:
Grave:
Decoration:
Air Medal, Purple Heart
Comments:

Donald F. Markham was born in 1921 in Montana. He resided in King County, Washington prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army on July 1, 1943 in Seattle, Washington. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed in the building of aircraft and also as Separated, with dependents. Donald served as a Staff Sergeant and Gunner on B-25 #43-3617, 22nd Bomber Squadron, 341st Bomber Group, Medium, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

B-25 #43-3617 took off, with a crew of 7, from Yangkai Airfield, China on a low level strike mission attacking railroads in the vicinity of the coast of Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam. They crash landed, possibly due to ground anti-aircraft fiare, in a rice paddy near current day Lam Cau, Vietnam. Witness of this crash noted that 5 crewmen walked out of the plane carrying one other crewmen that was wounded which would mean that 1 crewmen died in the crash. It is also noted on the MACR that Capt. Wirth, S/Sgt. Brown, S/Sgt. Montes, and S/Sgt. Markham were captured and became POW's.

It is also possible, based on the MACR for this crash that S/Sgt. Markham either died in the crash itself or possibly soon after the crash of wounds. The rest of the crew all appear to have become POW's of the Japanese. Donald was declared "Missing In Action" in this crash during the war. His name is commemorated on the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City, Philippines.

Donald 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