John E. Skoba was born on March 25, 1923. He served in the 429th Bomber Squadron, 2nd Bomber Group, Heavy as a Flight Officer during World War II. He was the Navigator on B17 #44-6678, piloted by 1LT Porter which crashed in Scarl, Germany after a mission over Regensburg and scrapped in Switzerland. Also that time, the oil refineries of Regensburg were the target of 1Lt Maurice D. Porter. The plane had already lost an engine and a lot of fuel. Sgt Kenneth L. Hoffman sent a radio message to the station in Foggia in southern Italy and left the formation for Switzerland. As the situation became more and more critical, Porter gave the order to leave the plane. On jumping, the crew lost their bearings in the prevailing snowstorm. The driverless machine crashed about 45 km further on Piz Plazer near Scarl. The crew was separated in the snow storm and went different ways. F/O Skoba was not found until May 24, 1945, after the war. He suffered fatal head injuries after jumping with the parachute. He was temporarily buried in what was then the American Cemetery in Münsingen, Switzerland. His final resting place is in Webster Cemetery, Webster, Day County, South Dakota, USA.

Source of information: https://warbird.ch