Stauffer, Ornell J. 

ORNELL J. STAUFFER

CAPTAIN
U.S. ARMY AIR CORPS

Ornell J. Stauffer was born January 24, 1916 in Berne, Indiana to David and Ida Stauffer. A sister, Betty Mae, was born in 1922. They lived in Berne their entire childhood, with David working at a store and Ida staying home with the two children. At Berne High School, Ornell was a standout basketball player. After high school, Ornell worked at the Central Soya Company in Decatur, Indiana as an electrician. On January 7, 1942 Ornell married his high school sweetheart, Mary Eichenberger (later Grzelak). In 2015, Mary recalled that although he was older than her, she can "remember him smiling and winking at her when she was a freshman". 

Ornell enlisted in the Army Air Corps on March 17, 1941, and received training all over the United States to become a pilot. He trained in Sikeston, Missouri; San Angelo, Texas; and Maxwell Field, Alabama. Ornell was himself  assigned as an instructor for a short time and was posted at Greenville Army Airfield, Mississippi and Smyrna Army Airfield, Tennessee. In 1943, he was sent to Smoky Hill Army Airfield in Salina, Kansas for training to pilot the new Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Reportedly, Ornell Stauffer was the only Adams County serviceman to become a B-29 pilot.  While in Kansas, Ornell got word that Mary had given birth to their first and only daughter, Susan Elyse (Hatch) on December 3, 1943. A week later, Ornell received special permission to fly a crew to Baer Field in Fort Wayne and hold his newborn daughter for the first time. Mary recalls, "he held her most of the evening". The stay was short, however, and he had to fly back the next day. On his departure, Captain Stauffer gave Mary instructions to "go outside and wave something red... and that if he saw her he would wave back to her". As instructed, Mary went out at the designated time, waved red clothing and he "lowered his wings back and forth" to her. 

As pilot, Stauffer had the opportunity to name his aircraft, and he chose to name it Calamity Sue, after his daughter. His aircraft and crew were deployed to the China-Burma Theatre as part of the 794th Bomber Squadron, XX Bomber Command, 58th Bomb Wing, 468th Bombardment "General Billy Mitchell" Group and was stationed at Kharagpur Airfield in the Bengal Province of India. They were one of the first B-29 Superfortress groups to enter combat.

On June 5, 1944 the 468th BG flew their first operational mission, which was to bomb the railroad in Bangkok, Thailand. Ten days later, the 468th participated in the first attack on the Japanese mainland since the Doolittle Raid. Their target was the Imperial Iron and Steel Works in Yawata. While the B-29's didn't succeed in destroying the factory, it did make Japanese citizens more aware that they were losing the war and that it was coming to their home. Yawata was bombed again on August 20, 1944, and the city was mostly destroyed. For this mission, the 468th was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation. 

From February-May 1944, the 468th was based on the island of Tinian, and went on to earn two more Distinguished Unit Citations for their efforts in raids on Tokyo, Yokohama, and Takarazuka in May and June of 1945. In November of 1945, the 468th returned to the U.S. after helping drop supplies in P.O.W. camps. Upon completion of the war, the unit was officially deactivated on March 21, 1946. 

On August 20, 1944, Captain Stauffer was killed on a bombing mission over Yawata, Japan. The target that day was the Yawata Iron and Steel Works and included 74 other B-29 aircraft. The mission involved both daytime and nighttime attacks. Targeting this facility was part of the strategic bombing campaign against Japan in order to weaken their industrial production and ultimately limit their ability to sustain a prolonged war.  His aircraft, the Calamity Sue was hit by shrapnel from another plane, Gertrude C. The B29, Gertrude C (piloted by Lt. Colonel Robert Clinkscales) was flying as the lead aircraft in a tight diamond formation. Upon dropping their bombs, it was targeted by a Kawasaki Ki-45 "Nick" fighter flown by Japanese pilot, Sergeant Shigeo Nobe. The kamikaze aircraft slammed into Gertrude C's left wing causing its fuel tanks to explode and then catapulted back into Stauffer's aircraft, Calamity Sue, shearing off its vertical stabilizer. Without its tail, the aircraft spun and crashed near Kyushu, Japan. Of the eleven-man crew of Calamity Sue, three successfully bailed out. TSgt, Dansby (Radio Operator), 2nd Lt Irving Newman (Navigator), and 2nd Lt. Charles Shott (Engineer) were captured by the Japanese and spent the remainder of the war in a Prisoner of War Camp. Some unconfirmed reports suggest that two additional members of the crew successfully bailed out but were killed on the ground in a firefight.

The entire eleven-man crew of Gertrude C was killed as a result of the ramming including Lt. Colonel Clinkscales's cocker spaniel "Sally" who was also onboard. This incident is the first recorded intentional ramming of a B-29 by Japanese fighters. The idea of suicide planes was only common for a short time in the Japanese Air Force, simply because it wasn't very effective. As the B-29 raids over Japan increased so did the resistance and attempt to stave off an eventual American invasion of the mainland. The kamikaze planes didn't always inflict the amount of damage the Japanese were hoping they would, and the debris didn't always hit other planes. Kamikaze raids against American Naval Ships, however, continued to intensify with the invasion of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. 

In 2015, when inquiring about replacing Captain Stauffer's Purple Heart, his daughter Susan learned of the many other awards her father earned during his service. For his service and sacrifice, Captain Stauffer was awarded the Purple Heart, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal,, and the World War II Victory Medal. In addition, his unit was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation. 

Captain Stauffer's remains are interred along with three other members of his crew at Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky.

Information researched and collected by Rebeka Wilder, 2015. 

SOURCES

Cook, Tim. "Ornell J. Stauffer." Find a Grave. N.p., 4 Mar. 2000. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

Indiana Historical Bureau, comp. Gold Star Honor Roll: Adams County. Bloomington: Indiana War History Commission, 1949. Print. Vol. 1 of Indiana in World War.

Langham, Jim. "Stauffer Gave His Life for Fellow Crewmen, Country." Berne Tri-Weekly News 18 Mar. 2015: n. page 1. Print.

Langham, Jim. "Vet's Family Shocked with Decorations 70 Years Later." Berne Tri-Weekly News 18 Mar. 2015: n. page 1. Print.

Rickard, John, Dr. "History of the 468th Bombardment Group." 468th Bombardment Group.N.p., 4 Apr. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

Takaki, Koji, and Henry Sakaida. B-29 Hunters of the JAAF. N.p.: Osprey, 2001. Print.

"1930 United States Federal Census." Ancestry.com. N.p., 2002. Web. 14 December 2015.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Nakamura Kenichi's depiction of the ramming of two B-29's over Kyushu.