World War II Honoree

Martin L. Zapf

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Yardley, Pennsylvania

Honored By

Friends of American Heroes

WWII VETERAN. HIS B-29 CREW MEMBERS WERE THE LAST U.S. AIRMEN TO BE CAPTURED BY THE JAPANESE. AFTER GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL IN 1943, HE JOINED THE ARMY AIR CORPS. TRAINED AS A RADIOMAN ON B-29 AIRCRAFT AND WAS ASSIGNED TO AN AIR BASE ON TINIAN IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC WITH THE 5TH SQUADRON, 9TH BOMB GROUP, 313TH WING, 20TH AIR FORCE. ON AUGUST 8, 1945, HIS PLANE WAS HIT WHILE FLYING ITS 17TH MISSION OVER JAPAN. HE AND THE OTHER CREW MEMBERS BAILED OUT OVER THE SEA OF JAPAN. THE PILOT WAS KILLED, AND THE 10 SURVIVING MEN SHARED LIFE RAFTS, A FEW PINTS OF WATER, AND A HANDFUL OF HARD CANDIES. AFTER SEVEN DAYS, THEY WERE PICKED UP BY FISHERMEN AND TURNED OVER TO JAPANESE SOLDIERS WHO DROVE THEM TO HIROSHIMA, WHICH HAD BEEN BOMBED ON AUGUST 6TH. THOUGH THEIR EMPEROR HAD ANNOUNCED THE END OF THE WAR THE DAY BEFORE, ON AUGUST 15TH, THE JAPANESE SOLDIERS WANTED TO EXECUTE THE CREW BECAUSE OF THE ATOMIC BOMBING. A JAPANESE OFFICER NAMED FUKUI WHO SPOKE ENGLISH PERSUADED THE SOLDIERS TO SPARE THE AMERICANS' LIVES. WHEN THE AMERICANS WERE DRIVEN THROUGH HIROSHIMA, THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT BUT THE SMELL OF BURNT FLESH. EVENTUALLY THE CREW ARRIVED AT A PRISONER OF WAR CAMP, WHICH WAS LIBERATED IN SEPTEMBER.