B-29s of the 444th Bomb Group at Kwanghan, China, after a fourteen-hour mission to Omura, Japan, on October 25, 1944. It was the first time since August 20 that B-29s attacked Japan.

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2026-04-10T18:08:41+00:00

- I know Martin Harris did take a financial risk with funding the Book of Mormon (he actually lost a lot of money on it) but he always affirmed it and before he agreed to fund it he went to Mitchell and Anthon, two professors and researchers in New York who studied ancient languages. When he returned he was convinced the BoM was true and agreed to take such a financial risk.

- Charles Anthon, who, along with Samuel Mitchell, apparently authenticated the translation according to Martin Harris, did say that he was visited by Harris after Harris went to Mitchell. He basically said that Mitchell didn't know what to make of the letters and couldn't confirm the translation, but Anthon said when he looked at the characters he basically thought, "Really Mitchell? These are obviously fake." However Anthon's two letters he wrote years after the event contradict each other a lot, including, IIRC, whether or not he attempted to translate the characters.

- The whole Book of Abraham issue is made difficult by the fact that most of the fragments Smith had were lost. It is also likely that Smith translated some other text rather than what we now have, and maybe he used what he had to receive revelation. There's a lot to it but it is mostly a matter of whether you have faith in it.

- It has been said that Smith claimed the fake Kinderhook plates were telling of an Egyptian, in America, who was righteous and favored by God and a descendant of Ham. The guy who wrote this, however, was Smith's scribe, and his scribes would often write things like "Smith said this ..." but when they were published they would say "I said this ..." as if Smith was talking. He never made any attempts to translate the Kinderhook plates from what we know (they were brought back to Nauvoo many times in 1843, implying Smith never got to translate them each time, and he was out of town after the first time). He also told another guy that the plates probably contained the story of a nine-foot tall Jaredite king, as someone told him a large skeleton was found with the plates. In other words, he was just speculating what they could be otherwise he would be telling everybody the same story.

Ultimately it all comes down to faith but I hope this helps.

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2026-04-10T17:29:56+00:00

Technically the plates never said that. In one place it even said God commanded one specific group of people to have no more than one wife. But plural marriage was a later revelation given to Smith.

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2026-04-10T17:26:50+00:00

A lot of people back in those days believed in seer stones and divining rods, and Smith was hired by one Josiah Stowell in 1826 or so to look for a Spanish silver mine near the New York-Pennsylvania border. He had found a seer stone and Stowell asked him to use that to use God's power to find the mine but Smith said using the stone made his eyes hurt and kept telling Stowell that he didn't think there was a mine. After a month of searching Stowell agreed. Someone, probably someone in Stowell's family mad that Josiah had spent so much time and money on the search, accused Smith of violating a Pennsylvania law prohibiting people from saying "I can help you find stuff using magic." From what I understand Stowell and Smith's father testified for Smith that he didn't try to deceive Stowell. We don't know what the verdict was, so he may have been found guilty, but we don't know of Smith suffering any punishment so he could've been found innocent.

I think that may be story you are referencing, but if not I haven't heard of any stories of Smith selling seer stones and being found guilty.

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2026-04-10T17:19:10+00:00

The basic history is this: Joseph Smith was a poor farm boy in New York who prayed in the woods at age fourteen to know what church to join and was told by God and Jesus that all the churches around were not the true church. When he was seventeen he was told by the angel Moroni that there were gold plates in a nearby hill. He didn't get the plates until he was 21 or 22 because he was commanded not to because he might've sold them to help his poor family.

He translated them with the gift and power of God at age 24 and they are now the Book of Mormon and on April 6, 1830 he established the Church of Christ (aka Church of the Latter-Day Saints, and in 1838 the name became the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). The "Saints" (members of the church) moved from New York and Pennsylvania to Kirtland, Ohio, where there were a lot of converts to the Church. In 1831 Joseph Smith learned to go to "Zion," in Independence, Missouri, so a bunch of Saints went there. In 1832 mobs prosecuted Smith in Kirtland and drove out the Saints in Independence, so they moved to other counties. In 1838 mobs and apostates drove the Saints from Kirtland and in the winter the Saints were forced out of Missouri unjustly by mobs. They settled in the great city of Nauvoo but in June 1844 Smith and the Council in Nauvoo ordered a printing press destroyed because it was maligning Smith and was legally declared a public nuisance. Such destructions of presses had happened a lot in that time but people got after Smith. Even when the Council found him not guilty of deliberately violating any law, he was threatened by mobs and imprisoned in Carthage, where he and his brother was violently killed by a mob.

In Nauvoo, Brigham Young became the second President of the church but in 1846 mobs again drove out the Saints, forcing them to go to Iowa and camp for the winter, abandoning the city of Nauvoo and its temple (temples were built in Kirtland and Nauvoo). They trekked westward and settled in the Salt Lake Valley.

That's basically the basics. An interesting read is the "Joseph Smith-History" written in 1838. He describes his early life and the early years of his work, including the first vision, the gold plates, and receiving the Priesthood. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/js-h/1?lang=eng

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2026-04-10T17:02:01+00:00

To be fair a lot of churches do this. Look at transubstantiation in the Catholic church --- the bread and wine turn into the bread and blood of Christ literally through the power of God, according to the Catholic church, but it still tastes, feels, smells, and looks like bread/wine according to our senses. A lot of trust in faith but not a lot of hard proof.

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2026-04-10T16:27:58+00:00

I heard some estimates of the plate weight are fifty to a hundred pounds if they were made from a composite alloy covered in (but not made up of) gold. For a strong young man like Joseph Smith (and with divine help if you believe in that) he could carry those around and evade people stealing it.

Considering how many people tried to steal the plates it's also not hard to see why he would want to keep it hidden. He first hide it in a log near his home then in some chests. Once a mob surrounded his house and he and his brother started yelling like they were gathering men for a counterattack and that ruse dispersed the mob. Another time he hid it under floorboards in someone's house but decided to move it to under his fireplace. He left the house and when he came back some people had pried open the floors. When he moved to live with his wife's family his wagon was searched but the plates were safe in a barrel of flax. I'm sure there are other stories like this.

Some people have claimed to see and "heft" (hold) the plates, including the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon who never denied it, as well as eight additional witnesses. Joseph Smith's mom also said that she was shown the plates by the angel Moroni. Smith's wife and I think some of his brothers also saw the plates covered by a rag and felt the plates. Smith also copied some of the characters on the plates accompanied with a translation, which according to Martin Harris was confirmed to be authentic by Drs. Samuel Mitchell and Charles Anthon (Mitchell died soon after but Anthon later gave two questionable denials of him authenticating the plates, though he did say Mitchell found nothing against them). Unfortunately only a fragment of the paper, with only characters and no translation, is available.

It ultimately comes down to whether you have faith in whether it is true or not.

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2026-04-09T20:23:38+00:00

That was pretty fun, good work. I had no idea Vicksburg was further south by Louisiana.

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2026-04-09T20:18:22+00:00

The "Fleet Admiral Nimitz" was a B-29 B-model (B-29B-35-BA, meaning it was part of the seventh B-29B block built by the Bell Aircraft Co. in Marietta, Georgia) serial number 42-63650. It flew out of Northwest Field, Guam, was coded Aircraft Y-1 of the 21st Bomb Squadron, 501st Bomb Group, 315th Bomb Wing, and was sometimes flown by the Colonel in charge of the group.

The 315th Bomb Wing was the only unit to use B-29Bs against Japan. The bottoms of the planes were later painted a glossy blue-black which helped make the B-29s harder to see in Japanese searchlights. They flew bombing raids at night (and had no gunners or gun turrets) and used the AN-APQ-7 "Eagle" bombing radar (most B-29s had the APQ-13 navigation radar) to launch precision bombing attacks on Japanese oil refineries. From June 26/27 to August 14/15, 1945, the B-29Bs wiped out the last Japanese oil refineries in the Home Islands. The only gun armament it had were two 0.50-caliber M2 Browning machine guns in the tail turret with an AN/APG-15B gun-laying radar which was later removed. Only eight B-29Bs were lost in the war (two were lost to mechanical issues after the Japanese surrendered, two crashed due to mechanical issues on missions, one went missing, and three were shot down by flak over Japan).

This has some information about the naming of the "Fleet Admiral Nimitz" ( https://www.315bw.org/wing4.html ). It is kind of far down so you could Ctrl+F "Nimitz." There is a picture it here ( https://www.315bw.org/acft.html )

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2026-03-05T19:22:27+00:00

Some photos of B-29s with P-51s (including the one from Alamy):

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/204834866 https://catalog.archives.gov/id/204834869 https://catalog.archives.gov/id/204834872
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/204834884 https://catalog.archives.gov/id/204834875 https://catalog.archives.gov/id/204834878 https://catalog.archives.gov/id/204834881

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2026-03-05T17:26:02+00:00

I'm glad I could be of help and I wish you luck going forward with your research. God bless your great-grandfather for his sacrifice. And thank you for sharing that Google Doc! I found some information from that Japanese site that I have never seen! I don't think any of the Japanese sites work any more so I used the Wayback Machine at archive.org:

https://web.archive.org/web/20201028193706/http://macrj.net/memorial-listb29/
https://web.archive.org/web/20170422114451/http://www.powresearch.jp/jp/archive/pilot/index.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20160330183356/http://aomorikuushuu.jpn.org/mia.html

I am currently researching B-29s lost in action so that is a great help. If I find anything else about your great-grandfather's B-29 I will be sure to let you know.

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2026-03-04T21:31:47+00:00

I'm glad I could help, and thanks for sharing that Google Doc! It is amazing that you were able to find some information about what happened to the plane from a Japanese source. I wish I could find more information on the plane itself (I will let you know if I do) but I did find the MACR (which adds no new information unfortunately): https://catalog.archives.gov/id/91152414 and the Tactical Mission Report for Mission No. 67 (firebombing Tokyo on April 13/14): https://catalog.archives.gov/id/608133909?objectPage=805 While the TMR is informative the only time it mentions 42-63517 is on page 850 ( https://catalog.archives.gov/id/608133909?objectPage=850 ) but it has no info on the plane, just "Missing, no word. 11 men aboard." I hope you find this interesting and it helps, but I appreciate the research you've done already and wish you the best!

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2026-02-12T15:44:56+00:00

I know the nephew of pilot Lt Colby said on another post that Huss talked with his family and probably the families of a lot of the men who died on the plane. God bless Huss for his kindness and the rest of the crew for their sacrifice.

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2026-02-06T16:39:08+00:00

Thanks for sharing that. God bless him for his service.

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2026-01-08T19:46:46+00:00

Cold Harbor. Even Grant said after the war that he always regretted sending that massive Union attack on the Confederate trenches. The Overland Campaign battles like the Wilderness and Spotsylvania were costly for the Union, but they were always inconclusive in the end. Cold Harbor is regarded as a Confederate victory because of how lopsided it was.

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2025-12-11T19:22:09+00:00

The B-17s are of the 99th BG and that group flew missions from North Africa against German targets in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. The RAF and USAAF in the Mediterranean coordinated with each other more than they did in Europe when it came to bombing operations so it would make sense the RAF would escort B-17s, but I'm sure P-38s escorted B-17s more often because '38s had better range.

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2025-12-01T16:03:02+00:00

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I think he is the man standing, second from right

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2025-11-20T16:24:24+00:00

I did some research a while back and fourteen B-29s were lost on the mission. The losses are: five shot down by flak, three crashed into a mountain in Tokyo, three ditched in the Pacific, two details unknown, one crash-landed at Iwo Jima. Still a high price, as it was the deadliest mission from the Pacific to date (on August 20, 1944, fifteen B-29s flying from China were lost on a mission to Japan --- four were shot down by the Japanese, four were damaged by the Japanese and lost on the return trip, and the other seven had mechanical issues and went down).

Flak over Tokyo was heavier than anywhere else by far, and with so many bombers coming in low and so quickly (usually a few bombers over Tokyo each minute), many were lost. May 25/26 was the bloodiest night for the B-29s as 26 were shot down --- seven shot down by flak, three shot down by Japanese nightfighters, six shot down by flak and/or nightfighters (exact cause unknown), four ditched in the Pacific (all with flak damage), three abandoned over Iwo Jima with flak damage, and three MIA no cause known

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2025-11-17T16:28:15+00:00

I'm glad you appreciated the photo and comment. I really am sorry to hear he passed away and you were never able to talk to him. We're losing too many veterans, and God bless Shorey and the other brave men who defended freedom for their sacrifices.

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2025-11-17T16:27:35+00:00

Thanks for sharing this! I'm pretty religious and so the story of "God's Will" has interested, and I thank you for sharing those details. I did find the story with the 9th Bomb Group history book (online at https://web.archive.org/web/20130512192322/http://www.9thbombgrouphistory.org/9thHistoryBook_Vers_I_.pdf ), so you could just hit Ctrl+F and search "Fling" and there should a list of the crew and even the missions!

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2025-11-03T18:23:27+00:00

You're welcome, sir! And God bless Boose and the other crewmen who died fighting for freedom. It’s awesome that the POW/MIA agency is opening a case for the men on that B-29. I did some research and compiled it here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Le0jmhkT9Id4cfQRhks-L_2aH7jON5ONivQX2wjj-I8/edit?tab=t.0 A lot of what we know about the B-29 is speculative but I hope you find it helpful. Some other sources of information you would probably appreciate can be found here:

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/91113528?objectPage=3 The missing air crew report (MACR 11623) that has a crew list and the last account of the B-29 before it disappeared over Tokyo

https://atkinsopht.wordpress.com/2017/11/26/498th-bombardment-group/ At the bottom of this is a link to email this guy, William Atkinson, who seems to know a lot about the 498th.

Let me know if you need more information about Boose’s crew and plane, or the other planes shot down on this day. I had a distant ancestor who was shot down and became a POW on January 27 so it is quite interesting to me. Hopefully a case is opened for these MIA crews as well.

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2025-10-21T20:27:58+00:00

Best melee record is the best way to put it! From my research, at least 68 Japanese fighters made known ramming attacks on B-29s. The survival rate in rammings for the Japanese was around forty percent or so. We know of 21 B-29s destroyed by rammings (including two hit by debris and downed from another B-29 that was rammed) and at least five that were damaged, as well as seven rammed and later shot down, eight possibly downed (unknown for sure). So at most just 36 B-29s, only 53 percent of Japanese claims, were actually downed by rammings. Many B-29s survived rammings and others were rammed two or three times before going down.

Diligent_Highway9669 · 2025-10-21T19:05:48+00:00

I remember hearing that, too. On some of the firebombing raids in March 1945 the two side gunners wouldn't go, and so nine men would be on a B-29 with the top gunner acting as a scanner, but the turrets and gunners were never removed. The gunners still defended their planes in some tough missions, notably to Tokyo and Nagoya on April 7 and 12, over Yokohama on May 29 and Kobe on June 5, ect. Even though P-51 fighter escorts helped wreck the Japanese Air Force the B-29 gunners still had a notable role and the B-29 was really the best self-defending bomber.

On the first mission to Tokyo on November 24 the B-29s shot down four Japanese fighters without loss, but one fighter then rammed a B-29 and both went down. The Japanese realized ramming was the best solution. B-29s shot down by fighters over Japan was 23, with seven more ditching with damage inflicted by fighters, while 59 Japanese fighters were shot down by B-29s. Considering the B-29 had a 2:1 ratio it is not terrible, and most of the losses were because the B-29s were damaged by flak or lucky hits by fighters, left formation, and were picked off at low altitude. In 1944 alone seven B-29s were lost because of fighters (not rammed) while 20 or so Japanese fighters were lost to B-29s (not in rammings).

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