Twelve heavy bomber crew members from PA were Prisoners of War in the Tokyo Military Prison when it was destroyed during an American firebombing raid on May 26, 1945. Volunteers with the non-profit Stories Behind the Stars (www.storiesbehindthestars.org) have written memorials honoring the twelve PA airmen who died in the Tokyo Military Prison fire. One of the fallen was from Berks County: 2LT William F. Muhlenberg.
William Frederick Muhlenberg was born on December 10, 1918 at Reading, Berks County, PA to Hiester Henry and Anna Miller Muhlenberg. His parents were natives of the Keystone State. Muhlenberg had two older sisters, Catherine and Anna, and one younger brother, John Peter Gabriel. Another unnamed sister died at birth in 1914. Muhlenberg’s father supported the household in a lengthy career as a physician. His mother was a homemaker.
Muhlenberg’s upbringing occurred in the Berks County communities of Reading and Wyomissing, PA. He graduated from Wyomissing High School in 1937 where he was an officer in Hi-Y. Muhlenberg graduated from Gettysburg College in 1941 and was chosen for the student commencement committee and Ivy Day honors representing athletics. He belonged to Phi Gamma Delta social fraternity and played on the college’s tennis team.
Muhlenberg registered for the draft at Shillington, PA on October 16, 1940. He stood 5’ 11” tall and weighed 160 pounds. Muhlenberg enlisted in the Army Air Forces at New Cumberland, PA on August 21, 1941 and was activated at Fort Monmouth, NJ on August 13, 1942. He became a commissioned aviator and qualified as navigator on the B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber.
Muhlenberg was deployed to the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations and was assigned to the 458th Bombardment Squadron, 330th Bombardment Group (VH). On Mission #67, Muhlenberg was the navigator on B-29 #44-69799 for a bombing mission from North Field, Guam to Tokyo, Japan. The aircraft was one of 327 Superfortresses from the XXI Bomb Command carrying 2,120 tons of bombs to attack the Tokyo Arsenal on April 13, 1945. Seven of the mission’s B-29s were lost, including Muhlenberg’s. His aircraft crashed at Sanuma, Omiya Village. Of the plane’s eleven crew members and one passenger, one perished in the crash. The other eleven, including Muhlenberg, were captured by the Japanese and interned at the Tokyo Military Prison.
On the night of May 25-26, a total of 464 B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers took off from the Marianas Islands to firebomb Tokyo. The incendiary bombs consumed Tokyo Military Prison. The Japanese guards locked the cell doors to block escape from the fire. POWs who attempted to escape were executed. The prison guards were later convicted at the War Crimes Tribunal and executed.
Muhlenberg was killed in action on May 26, 1945 at Tokyo Military Prison when he burned to death during an American fire-bomb raid of Tokyo. All sixty-two of the American POWs perished.
The World War II Dead Program recovered Muhlenberg’s remains from Yokohama Cemetery #1 and repatriated them to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), Honolulu, HI where burial occurred on December 8, 1949. Muhlenberg posthumously received the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
Stories Behind the Stars memorials are accessible for free on the internet and via smart phone app at gravesites and cenotaphs. The non-profit organization is dedicated to honoring all 421,000 fallen Americans from World War II, including 31,000 from Pennsylvania. To volunteer or to get more information, contact Kathy Harmon at kharmon@storiesbehindthestars.org or visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org.
AloJapan.com