Tony Marchione and the B-32 Dominator

Ten years ago I flew on the last flying B-24 Liberator Bomber, 'Witchcraft', of 13,000 built. I passed on the B-17, also flying that day out of the DuPage Airport in West Chicago. About a dozen B-17's are still flying of the 11,000 copies, so I figured I'd have plenty of opportunities to ride the 'Flying Fortress' before they were all retired. Seeing two of the three 4 engine WWII bombers (only the B-29 'Superfortress' was missing), I figured, was a coup. 

But just recently I learned of an obscure 4 engine giant whose last flight in the Good War was significant on several levels. The B-32 Dominator was developed by Consolidated Aircraft concurrent with Boeing's B-29 Superfortress as a backup in case the B-29 failed to pass muster. The early B-29's were a mess, prone to fires and engine failure which required overhaul after every few missions. But the B-29 was improved, resulting in 4,000 built including Enola Gay and Boxcar which dropped the 2 A-Bombs. The B-32, meanwhile was worse than the B-29. Only 118 were built with a handful seeing service against Japan starting in May, 1945.
  
Japan accepted peace terms on Aug. 14. All military ops ceased on both sides. On Aug. 17 Gen. MacArthur sent up a couple of B-32's to test the cease fire. One of the B-32's suffered damage when attacked by several renegade Jap fighters, but no one was injured. Next day, Aug. 18, MacArthur sent up 4 more B-32's to verify the incident was isolated. It wasn't. Two of the breakdown prone B-32's aborted the mission. The other two were again attacked by renegade pilots. On one, Pvt. Tony Marchione, 20, was pierced by a 20 mm canon shell and bled out, the last American serviceman killed in action, four days after the official ceasefire. MacArthur ended all such flights and required the Japanese to remove the propellers from all remaining fighters, something he didn't need a dead serviceman to order.

The last American killed in action likely died a needless death, flying in a giant bomber so rare most folks today, even Warbird fans like me, didn't even know existed.