| The Halteman Crew's Story U.S. Army Air Force |
Son’s Quest Leads Island To Remember Heroes
By Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathanael T. Miller
Naval Media Support Center Marianas
For the Pacific Navigator
Santa Rita, Guam (11 May 2005) - The journey of a son to honor the father he never knew became an
odyssey that led him halfway around the world to Guam and to a reception of which he never dreamed.
Sixty years ago, a U.S. Army Air
Forces B-29 Superfortress bomber,
serial number 42-63571,
experienced an engine fire after
takeoff from North Field, plunged
towards the waters north of Guam
and exploded, killing all 11 men
on board.
The body of the pilot, 2nd Lt.
Clarence W. Halteman Jr., was
recovered and eventually buried
in Hawaii, but the other 10
crewmembers still remain with
their plane on the floor of the
Pacific Ocean.
William Francis Arnett Jr. was co-
pilot of that plane, and his son,
“Bill” Willis, would never know
his father: 2nd Lt. Arnett died two
months before his son was born. His mother remarried, and Willis said he did not seriously begin to pursue
research on the lost crew until a few years ago out of respect for his stepfather. His passion to publicly
recognize this forgotten band of airmen grew as he began trying to preserve family history for his children. “I
felt it was appropriate to do,” Willis said.
Willis explained the death of his father and the rest of the crew was full of the tragic irony one seems to find
only in war. The “Halteman Crew,” named for the aircraft’s commander, had ferried a brand-new B-29 bomber
to Guam from the United States mainland in 1945, but that plane was then given to a more experienced and
senior group of fliers.
They were eventually assigned aircraft number 42-63571, which itself had been ferried to Guam in February
1945. After two missions scrubbed due to weather, the Halteman Crew took off on May 11, 1945 for their very
first combat mission; number 42-63571 had returned from completing a combat mission in Japan just 12 hours
before. About a half mile off shore from North Field, which is today on Andersen Air Force Base, the mission
went tragically wrong; the engine exploded and the aircraft crashed into the ocean, killing all aboard.
“The crew that ferried that plane to Guam were the ones who witnessed its crash,” Willis said.
As his research project grew, Willis realized his focus had changed. “I knew quite a bit about my father, but
wanted to know about the other guys,” he said.
After locating and contacting the families of nine crewmembers, Willis learned he was most likely the only child
of any of the fallen crew. “Only four out of the 11 were married,” Willis explained.
As the 60th anniversary of the crash approached, Willis began working to memorialize his father and his father’s
crewmates.
He and his wife, Mary Lou, envisioned a small ceremony: laying a plaque over the ocean crash site, or perhaps
having a small memorial dedicated
on land. After contacting the
Department of Defense and the
Guam Historical Society, the efforts
by both the military and Guam’s
civil government staggered them,
Willis said.
May 11 began with a joint
memorial by the Navy, Coast
Guard and Air Force at the crash
location.
The Willis couple and some guests
watched on board the locally based
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Galveston
Island as Andersen Air Force
Base’s Blue Knights honor guard
performed a flag-folding ceremony,
presenting the flag to Mr. Willis as the next-of-kin for the fallen crew.
As they drifted over the site where his father’s remains now rest, Willis and his wife cast a floral wreath and a
plaque covered with family mementoes—including his son’s U.S. Marines Corps coin, his own ID card and
badge from his time as a state trooper, and a device from his father’s World War II uniform cover—into the
sea.
Lt. Cmdr. Dan Link, Naval Base Guam staff chaplain, then delivered a brief eulogy, after which the Blue
Knights fired a volley and played “Taps” in salute to their fallen predecessors.
With his voice breaking, Willis concluded the observance by thanking the three service branches for combining
forces to support him.
Willis’ efforts also resulted in a permanent monument placed at the Ricardo J. Bordallo Governor’s Complex at
Adelup. Guam historian Tony Ramirez, granted permission by Governor of Guam Felix Camacho,
commissioned a monument built of native stones taken from Guam’s battlefields and topped by a black granite
slab engraved with the lost crew’s names.
Speaking at the monument’s dedication, Willis, himself a Marine and a veteran of the Vietnam War, again said
how “overwhelming” the island’s response had been, and gave a special acknowledgement to all the island’s war
veterans present.
Military service members were moved by the ceremonies and their chance to recognize the efforts of long-
forgotten comrades. “This is a great opportunity,” said Coast Guard Lt. Jeremy Dubay, commander of USCGC
Galveston Island. “This is exactly the right thing to do.”
By Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathanael T. Miller
Naval Media Support Center Marianas
For the Pacific Navigator
Santa Rita, Guam (11 May 2005) - The journey of a son to honor the father he never knew became an
odyssey that led him halfway around the world to Guam and to a reception of which he never dreamed.
Sixty years ago, a U.S. Army Air
Forces B-29 Superfortress bomber,
serial number 42-63571,
experienced an engine fire after
takeoff from North Field, plunged
towards the waters north of Guam
and exploded, killing all 11 men
on board.
The body of the pilot, 2nd Lt.
Clarence W. Halteman Jr., was
recovered and eventually buried
in Hawaii, but the other 10
crewmembers still remain with
their plane on the floor of the
Pacific Ocean.
William Francis Arnett Jr. was co-
pilot of that plane, and his son,
“Bill” Willis, would never know
his father: 2nd Lt. Arnett died two
months before his son was born. His mother remarried, and Willis said he did not seriously begin to pursue
research on the lost crew until a few years ago out of respect for his stepfather. His passion to publicly
recognize this forgotten band of airmen grew as he began trying to preserve family history for his children. “I
felt it was appropriate to do,” Willis said.
Willis explained the death of his father and the rest of the crew was full of the tragic irony one seems to find
only in war. The “Halteman Crew,” named for the aircraft’s commander, had ferried a brand-new B-29 bomber
to Guam from the United States mainland in 1945, but that plane was then given to a more experienced and
senior group of fliers.
They were eventually assigned aircraft number 42-63571, which itself had been ferried to Guam in February
1945. After two missions scrubbed due to weather, the Halteman Crew took off on May 11, 1945 for their very
first combat mission; number 42-63571 had returned from completing a combat mission in Japan just 12 hours
before. About a half mile off shore from North Field, which is today on Andersen Air Force Base, the mission
went tragically wrong; the engine exploded and the aircraft crashed into the ocean, killing all aboard.
“The crew that ferried that plane to Guam were the ones who witnessed its crash,” Willis said.
As his research project grew, Willis realized his focus had changed. “I knew quite a bit about my father, but
wanted to know about the other guys,” he said.
After locating and contacting the families of nine crewmembers, Willis learned he was most likely the only child
of any of the fallen crew. “Only four out of the 11 were married,” Willis explained.
As the 60th anniversary of the crash approached, Willis began working to memorialize his father and his father’s
crewmates.
He and his wife, Mary Lou, envisioned a small ceremony: laying a plaque over the ocean crash site, or perhaps
having a small memorial dedicated
on land. After contacting the
Department of Defense and the
Guam Historical Society, the efforts
by both the military and Guam’s
civil government staggered them,
Willis said.
May 11 began with a joint
memorial by the Navy, Coast
Guard and Air Force at the crash
location.
The Willis couple and some guests
watched on board the locally based
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Galveston
Island as Andersen Air Force
Base’s Blue Knights honor guard
performed a flag-folding ceremony,
presenting the flag to Mr. Willis as the next-of-kin for the fallen crew.
As they drifted over the site where his father’s remains now rest, Willis and his wife cast a floral wreath and a
plaque covered with family mementoes—including his son’s U.S. Marines Corps coin, his own ID card and
badge from his time as a state trooper, and a device from his father’s World War II uniform cover—into the
sea.
Lt. Cmdr. Dan Link, Naval Base Guam staff chaplain, then delivered a brief eulogy, after which the Blue
Knights fired a volley and played “Taps” in salute to their fallen predecessors.
With his voice breaking, Willis concluded the observance by thanking the three service branches for combining
forces to support him.
Willis’ efforts also resulted in a permanent monument placed at the Ricardo J. Bordallo Governor’s Complex at
Adelup. Guam historian Tony Ramirez, granted permission by Governor of Guam Felix Camacho,
commissioned a monument built of native stones taken from Guam’s battlefields and topped by a black granite
slab engraved with the lost crew’s names.
Speaking at the monument’s dedication, Willis, himself a Marine and a veteran of the Vietnam War, again said
how “overwhelming” the island’s response had been, and gave a special acknowledgement to all the island’s war
veterans present.
Military service members were moved by the ceremonies and their chance to recognize the efforts of long-
forgotten comrades. “This is a great opportunity,” said Coast Guard Lt. Jeremy Dubay, commander of USCGC
Galveston Island. “This is exactly the right thing to do.”
Left: Mr. Bill Willis speaks with the Honorable Felix Camacho,
Governor of the Territory of Guam, on the grounds of the Ricardo J.
Bordallo Governor's Complex on Adelup Point. Governor Camacho
authorized the used of land on the complex's grounds for the
construction of a small monument the Halteman crew. The
monument was built from rocks taken from various Guam
battlefields, and lists the names of those who perished before they
could ever fight.
Above: The Governor, First Lady, and the Willises, sing the
National Anthem during the monument's dedication.
Governor of the Territory of Guam, on the grounds of the Ricardo J.
Bordallo Governor's Complex on Adelup Point. Governor Camacho
authorized the used of land on the complex's grounds for the
construction of a small monument the Halteman crew. The
monument was built from rocks taken from various Guam
battlefields, and lists the names of those who perished before they
could ever fight.
Above: The Governor, First Lady, and the Willises, sing the
National Anthem during the monument's dedication.
Overwhelmed by the response he had received,
Mr. Willis made an emotional speech during the
dedication of the Halteman monument in the early
evening of May 11, 2005.
What he had conceived as a simple, quiet,
personal memorial to his late father and father's
crewmates had become an event wherein the island
of Guam and the U.S. military marshaled their
resources to help him remember these fallen,
forgotten heroes of 1945.
Mr. Willis made an emotional speech during the
dedication of the Halteman monument in the early
evening of May 11, 2005.
What he had conceived as a simple, quiet,
personal memorial to his late father and father's
crewmates had become an event wherein the island
of Guam and the U.S. military marshaled their
resources to help him remember these fallen,
forgotten heroes of 1945.
Their hands over their hearts, the Willises watch as the Andersen AFB Honor Guard
performs a memorial service over the site of the sunken B-29 and its crew. The
remembrance, held on board the Coast Guard Cutter Galveston Island, was a joint
effort of the Navy, Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, and the Government of Guam.
performs a memorial service over the site of the sunken B-29 and its crew. The
remembrance, held on board the Coast Guard Cutter Galveston Island, was a joint
effort of the Navy, Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, and the Government of Guam.
In a time-honored ceremony to pay homage to fallen heroes, "Taps" was
played on the fo'c'sle of the Galveston Island.
played on the fo'c'sle of the Galveston Island.
