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Casualty Info
Home Town South Plainfield, NJ
Last Address South Plainfield, NJ
Casualty Date Feb 26, 1944
Cause KIA-Body Not Recovered
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial - Honolulu, Hawaii
Wall/Plot Coordinates Court 5 (cenotaph)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
USS Grayback's (SS-208) 10th war patrol, her most successful, was also her last. She left Pearl Harbor, 28 January, 1944, and by 25 February had sunk three ships and damaged three others. On 27 February she sank another ship but was apparently attacked by carrier based aircraft (according to Japanese reports) and sunk. Motor Machinist's Mate Second Class Case was listed as Missing in Action and later declared dead 12 January 1946.
Comments/Citation:
Service number: 2241100
Submarine war patrols:
USS Tullibee (SS-284) - 1st and 2nd
USS Nautilus (SS-163) - 7th
USS Grayback (SS-208) - 10th
Navy Unit Commendation
For outstanding heroism in action during the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth War Patrols in the restricted waters of the Pacific. Tracking her targets relentlessly in wide coverage of her assigned sectors, the USS Grayback boldly penetrated formidable enemy screens to strike at every quarter. Repeatedly forced to deep submergence by unusually heavy depth charging, she continued to launch her torpedoes against strongly escorted convoys with deadly purpose and, under the superb handling of her skilled officers and men, achieved a notable combat record in vital ships sunk or damaged and contributed essentially to the steady weakening of the enemy's shipping strength and to blocking of his life line of supply. Ceaseless in her vigilance and daring in her sustained offensive, she fought gallantly throughout numerous grueling patrols, rendering distinctive service in thwarting the war efforts of a fanatical enemy until she failed to return after the overwhelming counter-attack suffered during her Tenth War Patrol. The USS Grayback leaves behind her an inspiring tradition of intrepidity and aggressiveness, reflecting the valor, the daring seamanship and fortitude of her ship's company.
The information contained in this profile was compiled from various internet sources.
Pacific Air Offensive (1942-45)/Doolittle B-25 Attack on Tokyo
From Month/Year
April / 1942
To Month/Year
April / 1942
Description The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, on 18 April 1942, was an air raid by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu island during World War II, the first air raid to strike the Japanese Home Islands. It demonstrated that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, served as retaliation for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, and provided an important boost to U.S. morale while damaging Japanese morale. The raid was planned and led by Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle, U.S. Army Air Forces.
Sixteen U.S. Army Air Forces B-25B Mitchell medium bombers were launched without fighter escort from the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier USS Hornet deep in the Western Pacific Ocean, each with a crew of five men. The plan called for them to bomb military targets in Japan, and to continue westward to land in China—landing a medium bomber on Hornet was impossible. Fifteen of the aircraft reached China, and the other one landed in the Soviet Union. All but three of the crew survived, but all the aircraft were lost. Eight crewmen were captured by the Japanese Army in China; three of these were executed. The B-25 that landed in the Soviet Union at Vladivostok was confiscated and its crew interned for more than a year. Fourteen crews, except for one crewman, returned either to the United States or to American forces.
After the raid, the Japanese Imperial Army conducted a massive sweep through the eastern coastal provinces of China, in an operation now known as the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign, searching for the surviving American airmen and applying retribution on the Chinese who aided them, in an effort to prevent this part of China from being used again for an attack on Japan. An estimated 250,000 Chinese civilians were killed by the Japanese during this operation.
The raid caused negligible material damage to Japan, but it succeeded in its goal of raising American morale and casting doubt in Japan on the ability of its military leaders to defend their home islands. It also caused Japan to withdraw its powerful aircraft carrier force from the Indian Ocean to defend their Home Islands, and the raid contributed to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's decision to attack Midway Island in the Central Pacific—an attack that turned into a decisive strategic defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) by the U.S. Navy in the Battle of Midway. Doolittle, who initially believed that loss of all his aircraft would lead to his being court-martialled, received the Medal of Honor and was promoted two steps to Brigadier General.
