All of famed B-24, The Tulsamerican, found in Adriatic; survivor remembers crash (2024)

MANNY GAMALLO World Staff Writer

The Tulsamerican, the last B-24 bomber made in Tulsa during World War II, has now been found in its entirety.

Divers off the coast of Croatia, where The Tulsamerican crashed into the Adriatic Sea during a bombing mission on Dec. 17, 1944, found the front half of the plane in about 100 feet of water over the Memorial Day weekend.

That section of the plane - its wings and a crumpled co*ckpit that was hardly recognizable - was found upside down with its landing gear locked into place for a landing.

The crash killed three crew members in that section of the plane, including Tech. Sgt. Charles E. Priest from Tallant, in Osage County.

Kevin Gray, a Tulsa lawyer who has researched The Tulsamerican for years and worked closely with Croatian divers to find the wreckage, said the other half of the plane, remarkably intact, was found in late August.

Gray told a group of World War II veterans of the 8th Air Force last week in Tulsa that the tail section is in such good condition, divers were able to photograph its interior.

When The Tulsamerican crashed, it split in two, and the front half flipped over before it went under, Gray said.

However, the tail section - from immediately behind the wings to the twin tail wings - sank slowly, settling on the sea floor in an upright position, he said.

The tail end was found about 300 feet away from the front, Gray said. He noted that The Tulsamerican's twin tail section is pointing toward the front half of the plane, in much the same pattern "as the Titanic was found."

Seven crew members in the tail section survived the crash.

They included Staff Sgt. John F. Toney of Muskogee, who died a few years ago, and the last survivor: Lt. Val R. Miller, a former state legislator who practices law in Oklahoma City.

Miller, who was a special guest at the 8th Air Force veterans meeting, recounted details of the plane's last mission.

The former Duncan resident said he was a substitute bombardier on the mission to bomb oil refineries at Odertal, in German-occupied Poland. The job fell to The Tulsamerican and five other B-24s.

They were flying in formation when they were set upon by German fighter planes.

Most of the planes in the formation suffered heavy damage. The Tulsamerican had an engine shot out and sustained damage to its fuel tank and hydraulics system.

The plane's commander decided to abort the bombing run and head back to The Tulsamerican's base in Italy.

As the plane was flying low over the Adriatic, near the isle of Vis off the coast of what was then known as the country of Yugoslavia, two of its engines gave out, "and you know you can't fly on one engine," Miller told the veterans.

The plane crashed into the water, he said, asserting that it "wasn't ditched."

Miller said he inflated his life vest and floated to the surface, where he found himself alone in the icy water in the evening darkness.

Seeing a shoreline, he tried to swim to it - only to discover he had suffered a broken leg. Miller gave up on swimming because "I thought I was going to snap off my broken leg," he said.

He was eventually fished out of the water by Yugoslav partisans and taken to Vis, where he was treated by British military doctors. Miller spent the rest of the war recovering from his broken leg.

The Tulsamerican was the last B-24 Liberator to come off the line at the old Douglas aircraft plant in Tulsa in the summer of 1944.

By September 1944, the plane was in Italy, assigned to the 461st Bomb Group of the 765th Bomb Squadron, part of the 15th Air Force.

Because the plane was the last of its kind, Douglas workers took pride in its construction, helping pay for it through the purchase of war bonds.

They also named the plane and painted its nose art, something normally done by flight crews, and signed their names on it.

Decorated in that manner, The Tulsamerican went into combat.

Even though it was no longer in Tulsa, residents kept tabs on it through newspaper articles on its missions.

The story of the plane's crash made the front pages in Tulsa.

Gray has said that he would love to see a part of The Tulsamerican returned to Tulsa to take a place at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum, which has a small exhibit on the plane.

He has been in contact with the Croatian government and has learned that it is possible to recover a part of the plane to bring to Tulsa, he said.

The big catch, however, is that because the Croatians have all sorts of fees, recovering a relic from the aircraft could cost more than $100,000, "and even then the Croatians could ask that the part be returned (to them) at our own cost," Gray said.

"The big question," he said, "is whether it's worth it. That'll be for others to decide."

Manny Gamallo 581-8386

manny.gamallo@tulsaworld.com SUBHEAD: The bomber is in two halves, split by the impact of its World War II crash into the Adriatic Sea. The TULSAMerican: last survivor recalls its last days

Original Print Headline: All of famed B-24 found