Memorial

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Harmon Hastings graduated from college and worked in a paint factory.

He joined the Regular Army on 7 September 1939.

The mission took place on 8 January 1945.

According to surviving crew members, the #2 engine was hit with something as they turned onto the IP. Oil blew out of the engine, it started to overheat, so the copilot feathered the propeller. About 10 minutes later, the #4 engine started to burn. Flames covered the cowling and wing. The pilot ordered the bombardier to jettison the bombs. One 500-pounder hung up in the rack and would not shake loose. the pilot turned and headed due west trying to reach French territory. When he called the navigator, he said we were 15 minutes inside France. That's when the pilot told the crew to bail out.

Some statements taken from members of the crew reflect that the airplane was cleared of personnel as far as interphone conversations from the pilot, who was last out. Germans told some crew members there were no bodies in the wreckage.

Sgt Hastings was last seen bailing out of the airplane by an un-named crew member who also stated that he appeared to be uninjured.

The airplane wasn't over French territory but had flown a northern course and crashed in Schmidtheim-Dahlem, Germany.

Eight crew members were taken prisoner, Sgt Hastings was the only casualty. The exact location where he might have bailed out is not known. He is unaccounted for to this day. He was officially declared dead one day and one year after he was reported missing in action.