Robert B. Orcutt Reade was born on May 26, 1922. He was the son of Chester Windfield Orcutt and Mary Lenoir Orcutt Riggin Reade. Robert, having been born the son of Chester Windfield Orcutt who passed away when Robert was 2 years old, took the last name of his step-father Clifford Morris Reade. He resided in Sacramento County, California prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army Signal Corps on September 1, 1942 in San Francisco, California. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a linemen and also as Single, without dependents. Robert served as a Second Lieutenant and Co-Pilot on B-24J #44-40783, 425th Bomber Squadron, 308th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

B-24J #44-40783 took off, with a crew of 10 and 1 passenger, from Liuchow Airfield, China on a combat mission targeting shipping in Takao Harbor near Takao, Formosa (Taiwan). During this mission they were shot down by Japanese A6M Zeros and crashed into the sea. The entire crew was lost. Robert 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. He also has a cenotaph located in East Lawn Memorial Park, Sacramento, Sacramento County, California.

2Lt Reade 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