Hi all,

I'm here because I've been searching the web for information on airmen lost in the Pacific during battles on/near Borneo. About all I can find are typical chronologies, but nothing specific to actual lost airmen. I was thinking since most of you are WWII buffs, you might have some links that could help me.

In particular, I'm looking for information on a Lt. John Robert Graf, Service #0773623 that went missing over Tarakan, Borneo while doing photo recon in a P-38 named "Bad Penny". His own plane was named "Sky Chief", but he was filling in for another pilot the day he went missing in bad weather.

He was a member of the 17th Reconnaissance Squadron, 13th AAF, Southwest Pacific and went missing February 22, 1945 and he was the pilot/photographer the day he was lost.

Any information or links that could be provided that might help to learn more about John would be greatly appreciated. As I've said, I've found all of the typical links you might find doing a Google search of the 17th Reconnaisance, but no specifics. What I'm really looking for are groups dedicated to the lost airmen that might have something more specific to include in a genealogical tribute to my cousin's granduncle, John Robert.

As for me, I was active duty Air Force from March 1972 - September 1975. I was stationed at Edwards, AFB from 1972-1974, working in Transient Alert (witnessed firsthand the first wingless prototype F-15 roll out the belly of a C-5A Galaxy and watched the entire F-15 program as it was being developed, as was the case with the F-16 & F-17 (now F-18) prototypes and the A-9 & A-10 prototype flyoff competitions). I was stationed overseas at Udorn RTAFB from October 1974 - September 1975 during the fall of Vietnam & the Mayaguez incident as a phase maintenance mechanic on F-4 Phantom jets.

Thanks in advance for any assistance offered!

Joe Keene
jmkeene@tampabay.rr.com