Captain William B. Reardon, USMCR VMSB-243 Pilot, and USMC VMSB-243 Tailgunner, Staff Sergeant Richard C. Gould, were killed on 18 April 1944 when their Dauntless aircraft crashed while on a bombing mission at Tobera Airfield, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea. Their aircraft was not immediately located. When it was, officials were unable to identify their respective remains. Consequently, their remains were returned to America and buried together in the same grave at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery (JBNC) in Lemay, Missouri. In 1944, JBNC was one of only two National Cemeteries that allowed combined remains to be buried in a single grave. While immediate family members were most likely notified of their joint burial in 1944, May 22, 2024, was when research enabled current Reardon and Gould family members to learn the location of Bill and Richard’s final resting place. The photo shown is of their JBNC tombstone (Section 82, Site 30A).