Thomas Patrick Hogan, Jr. was born on February 25, 1920 in Johnstown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. He was the navigator on B-24 #42-73059, assigned to the 10th Air Force, 7th Bombardment Group, 493rd Bombardment Squadron.

They were part of a six plane formation to bomb the town of Pakokku. Shortly after dropping their bombs, they were attacked by fifteen to twenty Japanese fighters and a fierce battle ensued. Hogan's and two other planes were shot down. They crash landed just west of the Chindwin River, about sixty miles south of Mandalay.

Two crewmen were killed in the crash while six others, including Hogan, were seriously burned. They were taken prisoner, and Hogan later died of his injuries in his cell at the Rangoon POW camp.

On May 17, 1946 a C-47B cargo plane took off from Rangoon carrying the remains of Hogan and approximately forty other service men who died as prisoners of war. They were to be returned to the United States, however the plane crashed in a storm in India, killing the three man crew as well as the eight passengers from the American Graves Registration Service. The wreckage was discovered by Clayton Kuhles in 2009, and efforts are being made to return the remains to the US.

Because his body was not recovered, he is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing, Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City, Philippines. 2Lt Hogan was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is also 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