Desmond H. Alberson was born on February 8, 1923 in Florida. He was the son of Austin Alberson and Annie Lou Hewett Alberson. He resided in Washington County, Florida prior to the war. Desmond served as a Flight Officer and Navigator on B-24J "Live Wire" #44-41235, 320th Bomber Squadron, 90th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

B-24J #44-41235 took off from APO #321, Mindoro, Philippine Islands on a strike mission over Canton, China. The pilot, 2nd Lt. Bowers, notified the other B-24's on the mission that they had run out of fuel and instructed his crew to bailout over the China Sea but he thought possibly he could make the coast of Luzon and would stay with his B-24. Eventually the B-24 crashed into the China Sea.

Desmond is noted as bailing out and one of the other crew members, 2nd. Lt. Elmer J. Fulkerson the Bombardier, saw him get tangled in his parachute and drown. 2nd Lt. Fulkerson was not close enough to help him.

Desmond was declared "Missing In Action" from this mission. His name is commemorated on the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City, Philippines. He was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is also commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov