Remembering Alabama WWII Fallen
1Lt. Howard L. Golden of Elmore County
1Lt Howard L Golden was born and raised in Elmore County. He served in the USAAF 319th Bomb Squadron, 90th Bomb Group as the pilot of a B-24 Liberator bomber and was executed by the Japanese on April 30, 1944 after his aircraft was shot down. He was 27 years old.
Howard Lamar Golden was born on October 7, 1916 in Tallassee, Elmore County, Alabama to Timothy and Lovie Baker Golden. Howard had an older brother, Milburn, and an older sister, Marie. In the 1920 census Timothy Golden was employed at a cotton mill. Sadly, Timothy Golden died in 1939 at the age 49 of a heart attack.
After graduating from Tallassee High School Howard attended the State Teachers College in Troy, Alabama and graduated in May 1940.
Howard signed up for the draft on October 16, 1940 after the Selective Service Act was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was listed as 5’9 inches tall and weighed 165 pounds. He was employed by Macon County High School as a teacher and football coach at the time of his registration. In August 1941 Howard and Ms. Virginia Noble were married.
Howard enlisted in the Air Corps at Maxwell Field in Montgomery, Alabama on March 29, 1942. He did his initial training at Maxwell Field as reported by a news clipping from August 1942. I was unable to find out when 1st Lt Golden received his commission or was sent overseas.
From records that were available, 1st Lt. Golden was assigned to the 319th Bomber Squadron, 90th Bomber Group, Heavy, with the 5th Air Force and was sent to the South Pacific.
1st Lt. Golden was the pilot of the B-24D Liberator, “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” serial number #42-40077 on a mission in Hollandia. With a crew of 13, the plane took off from Nadzab Airport in Papua, New Guinea on a bombing mission over Hollandia. The plane was hit was grounds anti-aircraft fire and Japanese fighter aircraft. The Liberator crashed on April 12, 1944, with everyone on board killed except 1st Lt. Golden and the Navigator, 2nd Lt. Bernard M. Donahoe. According to the Missing Air Crew Report only two parachutes were seen, so the two men were able to bail out before the plane crashed. However, 1st Lt. Golden and 2nd Lt. Donahoe were captured by the Japanese as prisoners of war and executed on April 30, 1944.
Mrs. Golden received notification that her husband had been missing in action since April 11, 1944. Some resources had conflicting dates of his death, but he was officially declared dead on April 30, 1944. 1st Lt. Golden was 27 years old. He had been in the Army Air Corps a little over two years and had flown on 24 missions. The other crew members on “Yankee Doodle Dandy” were:
Sgt. William D. Ballou, Observer
S/Sgt. Guy A. Buie, Photographer
2nd Lt. Bernard M. Donohue, Navigator
Sgt. David S. Ingerman, Photographer
S/Sgt. Eugene A. Ivers, Gunner
2nd Lt. John R. Jennings, Co-Pilot
S/Sgt. Joseph C. Minnich, Gunner
S/Sgt. Allen W. Pearson, Gunner
S/Sgt Fred J. Shroad, Gunner
2nd Lt. George A. Sparks, Bombardier
T/Sgt. Edward N. Stachowiak, Engineer
T/Sgt. Allen D. Toppert, Radio Operator
In January 1945 Mrs. Virginia Golden and her young daughter received the Air Medal that was posthumously awarded to her husband at a ceremony at Maxwell Field. The citation read:
“For meritorious achievement while participating in sustained operational flight in the southwest Pacific area from February 4, 1944 to March 30, 1944, during which hostile contact was probable and expected. These operations consisted of bombing missions against enemy airdromes and installations and attacks on enemy vessels and shipping.”
1st Lt. Golden is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines. He is also remembered on a marker at Rose Hill Cemetery in Tallassee, Alabama and at the Alabama Veterans Memorial Park in Birmingham, Alabama.
Thank you for your service and sacrifice, 1st Lt. Golden. You will not be forgotten.
