John "Jack" William Mackey
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
John “Jack” William Mackey was born and raised in Duluth, graduating from Cathedral High School on June 4, 1937. He attended Curtiss-Wright aeronautical school in Glendale, Calif., before enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1939. He graduated from Curtiss-Wright in 1940.
On Sept. 18, 1942, his parents received a letter from Major General H.R. Harmon, noting that the Mackeys’ son, an aviation cadet, had been chosen for training as a pilot for the Army Air Forces. “The duties of an Army Pilot call for a high degree of mental and physical alertness, sound judgment and an inherent aptitude for flying. Men who will make good material for training as Pilots are rare. The Classification Board believes your boy is one of them,” the letter reads.
On March 10, 1943, Mackey received a form sent out from Colonel Hegenberger at the Smoky Hills Army Air Field, Salina, Kan., regarding the prevention of desertion. All personnel were asked to sign the form and retain a copy for records. It states that Mackey had recently been transferred into the 21st Bombardment Wing. The letter warns that all personnel must stay alert and be ready for action the moment they are called. “Any person subject to military law who quits his organization or place of duty with the intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service shall be deemed to be a deserter. The extreme penalty for desertion is DEATH and all of the lesser penalties are severe, involving dishonorable discharge from the service and loss of the rights of citizenship.”
Later that year on Aug. 22, 1943, Mackey received another form he was instructed to sign that talked about security discipline and how all members of the 21st Wing should not “communicate by telephone, mail, radio or telegraph, with anyone, notify anyone of the time arrival at any station along the route, except as may be necessary to the administration or successful completion of the movement.”
Mackey was commissioned at Douglas Field, Ariz., in October of 1943.
Second Lt. Mackey received his US Army Air Forces diploma from the Seventh Air Force Gunnery School at Hickam Field, Hawaii, on March 4, 1944.
Only a few months later, on Aug. 26, 1944, Mackey’s father, John D. Mackey, received a letter from Major General J.A. Ulio to confirm his earlier telegram that Mackey had been reported missing in action over Truk Island, a sheltered body of water in the central Pacific since July 27, 1944. Ulio expressed his assurance that when he knew more information about their missing son, he would pass it along to the family. “The term ‘missing in action’ is used only to indicate that the whereabouts or status of an individual is not immediately known. It is not intended to convey the impression that the case is closed. I wish to emphasize that every effort is exerted continuously to clear up the status of our personnel.” The letter states that personnel classified as missing in action could also be prisoners of war and that it’s difficult to make these determinations at the time. In the meantime, Congress enacted legislation to continue pay, allowances and allotments to dependents of those missing in action. “Permit me to extend to you my heartfelt sympathy during this period of uncertainty,” Ulio signed the letter.
It was only a couple weeks later the family received another devastating letter, this time telling them their son’s plane had been shot down over the water. “Further information has been received indicating that Lt. Mackey was a crew member of a B-24, Liberator, bomber which departed from one of the Marshall Islands on a bombardment mission to Eniwetok Island on July 27th. Full details are not available, but the report indicates that during this mission while enroute from the target our planes encountered hostile aircraft and during the ensuring engagement your son’s bomber was seen to sustain damages and fall to the water near Truk Island. It is regretted that the crew members of returning planes were unable to furnish any other details concerning your son’s disappearance,” First Lt. C.A. Oakley, notification branch of the personal affairs division, said in the letter. He also didn’t release the names of those in the plane for security purposes. He added that troops were assigned to continue to search by land, sea and air for those missing in the plane crash.
One day later, the family received a letter from Major General Ulio stating a mistake had been made and that Mackey was missing in action on July 28, 1944, not July 27 as previously stated in letters and telegrams to the family.
As promised, three months later, Ulio sent another letter to the Mackeys but unfortunately still had no information on their son. “I want to again emphasize the fact that the Commanding Generals in all our theaters of operations are making a continuous effort to establish the actual status of personnel who have been reported as missing, or missing in action.” Ulio promises to contact them in another three months if nothing is found before then.
On Nov. 29, 1944, Mackey’s family was sent another letter stating that the military was permitted to release the names of the men serving with their son when their plane was shot down. The Army included a name of all the crew members and the names and addresses of the next of kin in case any family members wanted to correspond with each other.
The following January, the family received the last will and testament that was found in Mackey’s effects. Mackey had signed everything he had over to his parents, John and Bessie Mackey. The will was dated Jan. 8, 1944. Not long after, the family received a letter dated March 14, 1945, again telling them there was no new information on Mackey. The letter states that after one year, “all available information regarding the circumstances attending his disappearance is reviewed … at which time a determination of his status is made.”
March 25, 1946: “Information in the hands of the War Department indicates that he (Mackey) was a crew member of a B-24 (Liberator) aircraft which failed return from a strike mission to Truk Island on 28 July 1944. After leaving the target the plane was severely damaged in an encounter with enemy aircraft. It exploded and crashed into flames about twelve miles northeast of Truk Island. An eyewitness states that two parachutes emerged from the burning plane just prior to explosion. Enemy fighter planes followed the chutes down, strafing them as they fell. Investigation has failed to reveal any further information concerning your son since that day. “Since no information has been received which would support a presumption of his continued survival the War Department must now terminate your son’s absence by a presumptive finding of death. Accordingly, an official finding of death has been recorded.”
Though a probable date of death wasn’t recorded, one had to be in order to terminate pay and allowances, settlement of accounts and payment of death gratuities. The War Department marked his death as March 25, 1946. Mackey’s father, John D., was sent a check for $1,982.09 for his son’s pay and allowances, and his mother, Bessie, was sent $2,021.83. Each parent was given a share of the pay and allowance due.
Signed on May 26, 1949, but effective as of July 27, 1944, Mackey was promoted posthumously to the grade of First Lieutenant. Mackey was survived by his parents and four brothers, James, David, Thomas and Richard and three sisters, Mary, Patricia and Lucille, all of Duluth. His memorial mass was Sunday, April 7, 1946, in St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Duluth Heights.
On June 21, 1949, the Mackeys received another letter, this time from Brigadier General William E. Bergin with the Department of the Army, stating that Mackey’s date of death would be amended from March 25, 1946, to July 28, 1944, when his plane was actually shot down.
