Captain Walter "Waddy" Young and his crew pose in front of their caricatures on their B29 Superfortress, November 24, 1944. Young and his crew were assigned to the 869th Bombardment Squadron, of the 497th Bomb Group, 21st Bomber command, Twentieth U.S. Air Force, flying out of Isely Field on the island of Saipan.
Waddy's Wagon was the fifth B-29 to take off on the first Tokyo mission from Saipan on November 24, 1944, and first to land back at Isley Field after bombing the target.
On January 9, 1945, after finishing his bombing run over Tokyo, Waddy saw that another B-29 was falling behind after being hit by a Japanese plane. Waddy turned back to help protect them. The crews of both Superfortress bombers (22 men) were never seen again.