Okay everyone, get out your magnifiers! After following the link on this blog to the 38 Bombardment Squadron, I clicked on their link to Kwajalein. On the Kwajalein site there is a photograph taken of B-24's on Kwajalein, June '44. Almost immediately I picked out two planes I recognized. The first was "Come Closer" which is right of frame and 2nd in line. As mentioned in the Rene Brabender Mission Logs, the crew was assigned to Come Closer May 16, '44 and by May 28 they were flying the Pistol Pakin Mamma. Since this picture is dated June 1944, I bet the seats were still warm from our guys in Come Closer. Note, the first plane in line (right of frame) is "Dottie Anne". Dottie Anne went down on September 3, as mentioned in the Brabender logs; with one man (T/Sgt. Richard L. Williams) KIA by drowning. One noteable fact about Dottie Anne's crash, is that 2nd Lt. Benjamin R. Cook, Jr. was aboard as an observer. Cook had been Co-Pilot for the Pistol Pakin Mamma during the their 19th mission (the "Fruit Juice Mission") on August 14, 1944.
I really like this photo. It shows the living conditions they dealt with and the coral runway they flew from. The "Mamma" is parked 4th down in the left row. I'd like to think that maybe one of our guys are in this picture.
Planes in order on right are: Dottie Anne, Come Closer, Chambermaid, Fools Paradise
4th on left: Pistol Pakin Mamma
