John Regan
| Date and Place of Birth: | 1922 Chicago, IL |
| Date and Place of Death: | May 25, 1944 near Milang, India |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Rank: | Technical Sergeant |
| Military Unit: | 373rd Bomb Squadron, 308th Bomb Group, Fourteenth Air Force, USAAF |
| Area Served: | China-Burma-India Theater of Operations |
John J. Regan was a pitcher on the varsity baseball team at Mount
Carmel High School, an all-boys Catholic school on Chicago's South Side.
In 1942, he was signed by the Chicago Cubs' organization and sent to the
Ashland Colonels of the Class C Mountain State League. After a brief
stay he joined the Janesville Cubs of the Class D Wisconsin State
League, where he made two appearances.
Regan's fledgling baseball career was put on hold in November 1942, when
he entered military service with the Army Air Force and trained as a
radio operator. He was sent to the China-India-Burma Theater in November
1943, where he served with the 373rd Bomb Squadron of the 308th Bomb
Group, Fourteenth Air Force, at Yangkai, China. Technical Sergeant Regan
flew regular ferrying missions in a Consolidated B-24J Liberator over
"the Hump" to India, and on May 25, 1944, he was the radio
operator/gunner on B-24J Zoot Chute piloted by First Lieutenant Robert
M. King. On board were five other crew members in addition to Regan and
King, plus three passengers. The plane was bound for Chabua, India, and
the last radio contact was made 30 minutes east of its destination. It
was never heard from again. One year later the crew were officially
declared dead and due to the mountainous terrain where the plane was
lost, it was believed that if the wreckage were located, it would be
impossible to recover the remains.[1]
John Regan was posthumously awarded the Air Medal, and is memorialized
at the Manila American Cemetery at Fort Bonifacio in the Philippines. In
June 1945, it was announced that Jack's parents had adopted a baby boy
as a living memorial to Jack. "We've adopted the baby to take our boy's
place," the father explained. "We know he'll carry on the ideals of the
son we lost." [2]
On
October 26, 2008, 64 years after Zoot Chute disappeared, it was
discovered by aviation archaeologist Clayton Kuhles. Kuhles conducts
regular expeditions to Burma, India, Bangladesh and China, to locate and
document missing-in-action Allied aircraft lost in that area during
World War II. He discovered the B-24 at over 11,000 feet elevation on a
rugged mountain north of Damroh. The nearest village was Milang, a
five-day trek. Kuhles intends to locate and notify the surviving family
members.[3]
|
Year |
Team |
League |
Class |
G |
IP |
ER |
BB |
SO |
W |
L |
ERA |
| 1942 | Ashland | Mountain State | C | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1942 | Janesville | Wisconsin State | D | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.31 |
T/Sgt. John Regan served as a radio operator/gunner aboard this Consolidated B-24J Liberator nicknamed "Zoot Chute"
Notes
1. Missing Air Crew Report 5292.
2. Paterson Morning Call, June 19, 1945.
3. www.miarecoveries.org. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
Date Added February 11, 2012 Updated March 20, 2020
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