Operation: Keita Airfield, Bougainville

Date: 23rd October 1943 (Saturday)

Unit No: Composite Squadron 38 (VC-38), Air Group 38 (AG-38), United States Navy

Type: SBD-3 Dauntless

Serial: #03359

Code: Unknown

Base: Munda Airfield, New Georgia, Solomon Islands

Location: Near Keita Airfield, Bougainville

Pilot: Lt (Jg). Joseph Gates ‘Joe’ Nason 117057 USNR Age 24. PoW *

Radio/Gunner: ARM3c. Thomas Edward Furlong Jr. 6069046 USNR Age 23. MiA

* Tunnel Hill PoW Camp, Rabaul, New Britain

US Navy & Aviator ranks:

Lt (Jg). = Lieutenant (Junior Grade);
AOM2c. = Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class;
ARM3c. = Aviation Radioman 3rd Class.

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the 23rd October 1943, Lt (Jg). Nason and his Radio/Gunner ARM3c. Furlong Jr., took off in SBD-3 Dauntless #03359 of VC-38 from Munda Airfield, on their first combat mission to dive bomb the Japanese Keita Airfield on the Island of Bougainville.

Note: Composite Squadron 38 (VC-38), was USN Composite Squadron which flew a combinations of fighters, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers.

While dive bombing an anti-aircraft (A/A) position near Keita Airfield, their aircraft was hit by AA fire and caught fire. Lt (Jg). Nason baled out virtually over the Airfield. ARM3c. Furlong Jr., was not seen to escape the stricken aircraft and was presumed to have been killed when it crashed.

Lt (Jg). Nason landed unhurt and managed to evade the Japanese for about a week but was captured by the Japanese on the 28th October. He was then transported in a boat along the eastern coast of Bougainville to Buka and was held in a Bougainville PoW Camp until the 8th December 1943.

He was then taken aboard a Japanese destroyer to Rabaul and detained at the 6th Field Kempeitai Headquarters (HQ) PoW Compound. On the 2nd March 1944 after the 6th Field Kempeitai HQ was destroyed in a bombing raid he was amongst the approximately fifty-three (53) PoWs who were transferred to another camp known as the Tunnel Hill Cave PoW Camp in a mountain pass named Tanoura on Tunnel Hill road, which was about 2½ miles from Rabaul City and between Rabaul and Pilapila.

Lt (Jg). Nason was one of six (6) PoWs who were selected to be subjected to malaria medical experiments. However, due to his weaken condition he was not subjected to the experiments. The other five (5) were:

Capt. John J. Murphy NGX310 AIF;
1st Lt. James A. McMurria O-372644 USAAF;
1st Lt. Jose L. Holguin O-728388 USAAF;
ENS. Donald D. Atkiss 263870 USNR;
AOM2c. Richard I. Lanigan 3381863 USNR.

An overview of the investigation into the circumstances of the deaths and those deemed to be responsible for executions and atrocities is summarised in the report entitled “Talili Bay Massacre, New Britain”.

Lt (Jg). Nason was one of only eight (8) surviving PoWs who were released from the Tunnel Hill PoW camp on the 7th September 1945 to Australian forces after the Japanese surrender. The other seven (7) were:

1st Lt. Jose L. Holguin O-728388 USAAF;
1st Lt. James A. McMurria O-372644 USAAF;
2nd Lt. Alphones D. Quinones O-748875 USAAF;
S/Sgt. Escoe E. Palmer 34269270 USAAF;
ARM2c. John B. Kepchia 65228343 USNR;
WO. Ronald C. Warren 425959 RNZAF;
Capt. John J. Murphy NGX310 AIF.

He was one (1) of a party of twenty-eight (28) Service personnel that boarded HMAS Vendetta at Rabaul and brought to Jacquinot Bay on the south coast of New Britain. They were then taken by RNZAF Air-Sea Rescue boat to the Australian Army 2/8th General Hospital at Jacquinot Bay for assessment and treatment.

Above: Enhanced image from The Arizona Republic, dated 11th August 2002

Left to right: 1st Lt. James A. McMurria, 2nd Lt. Alphonse D, ‘Al’ Quinones, 1st Lt. Jose L. Holguin, S/Sgt. Escoe E. Palmer, AR2c. John B. Kepchia

After approximately three (3) weeks at Jacquinot Bay and Finschafen Hospital, he was turned over to the American authorities at Leyte and left for the United States by sea on the 26th September 1945.

Above: Lt (Jg). Joseph G. Nason reported freed (Courtesy of The Plain Dealer, 13th October 1945)

Joseph Gates Nason was born on the 27th June 1919 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Joseph passed away at the UMass Memorial Healthcare University Hospital, Worcester on the 12th October 2012 at the age of 93.

Burial details:

Above: ARM3c. Thomas E. Furlong Jr., Manila American Cemetery, Tablets of the Missing (Courtesy of the ABMC)

ARM3c. Thomas Edward Furlong Jr. Purple Heart (PH). Manila American Cemetery, Wall of the Missing. Born on the 12th July 1920 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts. Son of Thomas Edward Sr. and Elsie Florence (née Wheeler) Furlong of Worcester, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the crew and their relatives (May 2026).

Other sources listed below:

Reference(s):

1. Investigation File: NAA: 336/1/1345 Part 6
2. Investigation File: NAA: 336/1/1955 Part 7

Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them. Franklin Delano Roosevelt