Dan Regis Meulpolder
First Lieutenant Dan R. “Danny Ray” Meulpolder was a Marine pilot with VMTB-143.
He was killed in action on a mission to Tobera Airfield, Rabaul area, on 29 January 1944.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number O-23237
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
April 4, 1921
at Pella, IA
Parents
Daniel Meulpolder
Mia Svea (Wesslund) Meulpolder
Education
Pella High School (1939)
Central College (ex-1943)
Occupation & Employer
College student
Service Life
Entered Service
September 1, 1942 (enlisted)
May 12, 1943 (officer)
Home Of Record
308 South Main Street
Pella, IA
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Mia Meulpolder
Military Specialty
Pilot
Primary Unit
VMTB-143
Campaigns Served
Northern Solomons
Individual Decorations
Distinguished Flying Cross
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
On 29 January 1944, took off in TBF1-C #47748 (Squadron No. 20) with PFC James W. Raun as radioman and PFC Carlyle W. Vorachek in the gun turret, for a strike against Tobera Airfield near Rabaul. En route, Meulpolder tested the wing guns and found them inoperative; he radioed his crew “I believe we’ll go in anyway, is that all right with you fellows?” When all agreed, proceeded with squadron to Tobera and dropped all bombs on target.
PFC Vorachek was watching the effects of the bombing when Meulpolder’s voice came on the intercom.
After we were away from the target, Mr. Meulpolder asked both Raun and I if we were OK and we both phoned back saying we were. He told us that he was OK and [the] plane had taken quite a beating. The hydraulic system was out, the tip of the right wing was gone, and I notice that fabric off the tail was flapping around. I didn't see any ack-ack breaking close to us, and I didn't feel any bomb blast or bomb fragments enter our plane on its run over the target. I do not know what the cause of our plane's damage was.
After he told me about the right wing, I was turning the turret over for a look when I heard bullets spatter over the plane. I glanced over [my] shoulder and saw a Zero banking way to the right.... The turret went dead, the ICS went dead, and when I looked down to see if Raun had been hit and saw him laying on his gun with a big hole in the center of his back.
Vorachek estimated their position “just over the shore of Kabanga Bay” at about 300 feet altitude. The Avenger held a steady course and gradually lost altitude; Vorachek could not contact Meulpolder, but assumed the pilot intended to make a water landing. When the TBF hit and settled, the gunner jumped from his escape hatch and swam clear with a life raft and emergency kit. He was the only one to escape. “I didn’t have time to go up and look at Lt. Meulpolder,” he said, “but he never made any attempt to come out of the cockpit that I saw.”
Vorachek spent a harrowing twelve days alone at sea, surviving on rainwater, pemmican, and a turtle he managed to catch. He was finally picked up by a “Dumbo” flying boat, and returned to Bougainville on 14 February 1944. Based on his account of the incident, Meulpolder and Raun were both declared killed in action during the Tobera mission.
Lieutenant Meulpolder was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross:
Although his plane was badly damaged by anti-aircraft fire during a strike on Rabaul on January 29, he pressed home his attack, scoring a direct hit on the target. Mortally wounded while retiring from this action, and with his plane practically inoperative, Lieutenant Meulpolder maneuvered several miles out over the water and made a successful landing, thereby saving his crew.
Burial Information or Disposition
None; remains not recovered
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of parents, Daniel & Mia Meulpolder.
Location Of Loss
Approximate location of the crash, five miles off Kabanga, Papua New Guinea.
