On October 7, 1944, Morris Peck, a radioman on a B-24 bomber, flew from his base in Southern Italy with 349 other bombers on a mission to bomb military targets in Austria and Germany.
His plane received significant damage from artillery fire shortly after dropping their bombs. Two of the four engines were damaged and shut down. One fuel tank was hit and was leaking fuel into the fuselage.
The plane attempted to return to their base. The flight plan took them over the coast of Croatia (Yugoslavia at that time) and the island of Vis, 20 miles off the coast in the Adriatic Sea.
As their plane was nearly out of fuel, the pilot radioed the air traffic controller on Vis asking permission to land at the emergency airfield built on the island to help save damaged planes and their crews. They were denied permission as there was another bomber on the runway preventing other planes from landing.
The pilot gave the order to his crew to bail out. He confirmed that Morris was the last one out before he jumped himself.
Along with one other airman, Morris was never found and was later declared KIA (Killed in Action) by the Army. Seven members of the crew, including the pilot, survived.
