SSGT Harvey J. Dempsey, Jr.
315th BW 402BS 502 BG, Army Air Corps
KIA 25/26 July 1945, Kawasaki, Japan
Buried at the Punchbowl National Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii
The Father of Penelope Patricia Dempsey Yazzie
Harvey J. Dempsey, Jr. was born on St. Patrick's Day 1911 in South Bend, IN and was known from that day on as Pat. He was the first son of Harvey J Dempsey, Sr. and Marion Schlindwein.
He had a younger brother, Everett and a younger sister, Pauline. Pat's family had an early military history with our country. His 6 times great grandfather, Mark Dempsey, was sent to the
colonies by England as Secretary to General Philip Schuyler. Pat descended from Mark Jr. In turn, Pat's grandsons, Richard and Joseph DeLacy, both served our country in the United States
Air Force. Richard for 24 years and Joseph for 6 years and both served during Desert Storm.
Before joining the Army Air Corps in 1942, Pat worked as an accountant for John Deere Mfg in Milwaukee, WI. He married Helene F. Klopotek on St. Patrick's Day 1934 in Shorewood, WI. On
January 12, 1945 I became the only child they would have. They named me Penelope Patricia but called me Penny. Mom told me it was because after all those years waiting for me, they thought
I was their "Lucky Penny." I was one of the more fortunate in that I did get to spend two weeks at Easter 1945 with him before he returned to base. Mother said that as she watched him go
that last day of his leave he became shrouded in a fog and disappeared. She said that she knew then that he would not be coming back to us. Mom described dad as "very smart and having a
photographic memory." My cousins who are older than me and lucky enough to have known him, describe him as "very sweet" and "handsome."
Dad enlisted in the Army Air Corps in Milwaukee, WI and was inducted at Ft. Sheridan in Illinois. He initially was an instructor for the Army but as the war droned on and more men were
needed to fight, he was reassigned. After additional training he was sent to Guam in June of 1945. The Captain of the B29, of which dad was a crew member, was Gaylord Dillingham and I was
told that the crew was hand picked by him. Capt. Dillingham's father was a prominent business man in Honolulu, HI. The family was very active in yacht racing and their boat was called the
"Manuiwa" and won often. This also became the name of their B29. The name "Manuiwa" may mean Big White Bird. It certainly was that.
On the night of July 25/26 1945 approximately 30 planes were sent on a mission to bomb two oil refineries in Kawasaki, Japan. They were flying at well below the 35,000 feet recommended for
bombing missions and, following orders, came in over the target at about 16,000 feet. A plane, the "Tu Yung Tu" was flying just ahead of Pat's plane and was coned in the lights but it was
the "Manuiwa" that was hit by the flack. According to the tail gunner on the "Tu Yung Tu," with whom I spoke just two years ago, he felt the plane was hit in an area where the controls for
the plane existed though he could not see the exact place. Official reports state it as the #2 engine. He saw the plane bank and go down but could not see any flames and did not see it crash.
In fact. it crashed into the either the Nippon Casting Factory or the Mitsubishi Oil Refinery, depending on the report from the Army or the report from the Japanese. It exploded and the bodies
were removed from the crater after the flames went out. Pat was a radio operator and his position in the plane was on that side. Pat and two other crew members, John P. Carey, left gunner and
James D. McGlynn, co-pilot, were the only crew members whose bodies were not completely recovered.
Initially, the crew was buried in Japan. In 1949, through the generosity and kindness of Walter Dillingham, the crew was disinterred in Japan and brought to the Punchbowl National Cemetery of
the Pacific in Honolulu, HI and reburied. They were the first burials in the cemetery and were buried on the same day and the same row as war correspondent, Ernie Pyle. They are on the main
boulevard that is the entrance into the cemetery and are in front of the memorial there. It was the wish of the crew to be buried together.
In March of 2008, when my son, Richard, retired from the Air Force, he requested that I bring dad's casket flag to the ceremony. This flag had been mailed to mom because she did not attend the
funeral in Hawaii. At the end of his retirement ceremony, Msgt. Richard D. DeLacy and his commanding officer performed a presentation ceremony to me of dad's flag. With my son kneeling before me,
he placed the flag in my lap and stated, "On behalf of a grateful nation, we thank you for your sacrifice." I choose to believe that he did that not only to honor his grandfather but also for
every member of the crew whose family did not get to attend the funeral either.
It is important to all of us who have lost anyone in any war that they be remembered for the great sacrifices that they made. Not just by us, but by all Americans who tend to forget very easily
that only the brave fight for freedom and freedom isn't free.
-- Penny Dempsey Yazzie --
