Memorial

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T/Sgt Irving M. Chary attended high school for four years. He joined the National Guard in Newark, New Jersey on 2 July 1943. He trained at the combat crew training station in Sioux City, Iowa.

Statement from S/Sgt James D. Silianoff, Tail Gunner on B-17 G, No. 365, flying in the third Squadron, first element, third plane.
"Of two ME-262´s which attacked our plane, one continued it´s attack on plane no. 718, spraying that aircraft with twenty millimeter fire into the fuselage and bomb bay doors. Plane no. 718 started to lose altitude and speed rapidly and falling behind the Squadron, and smoke began to emit from the tail. Two or three other ME-262´s also attacked this plane at this point. Then I saw two parachutes open and then lost sight of the plane. All this happened before we reached the target at 51 deg 45 min North and 13 deg 12 min East at 1217 hours, altitude 26,000 feet."

Statement from Robert W. Tappan.
"The plane of which I was pilot and Chary a crew member, crashed near the vicinity of Juterbog, Germany. Chary, to my knowledge, did not bail out. Information given me by the crew members holding stations near Chary, showed he was alive and not injured when the other members started to bail out. One of two conclusions; he must have passed out due to lack of oxygen and was unable to leave the plane, or he did same in returning to his station to retreive chest parachute which he might have neglected to fasten on in the excitement of the moment. Due to the imparative situation of the time, and the operating condition of the aircraft, those conclusions are supposition.
Hearsay from other crew members substantiate paragraph two. One member states as he was leaving the plane via the near entrance door, he passed Chary coming back away from the door which leads me to believe he was going to his station for the chest chute he had apparently forgotten.
I do not have any information as to his burial location. It is my opinion that he never left the aircraft, and since the plane exploded once before reaching the ground and again upon impact, I cannot see how it would have been possible to find him."