James J. "Hanker" O'Donnell was born on June 2, 1920 in Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. He was a well known basketball player, attended Central High School and was graduated from Technical High School. He was employed at Indian Head, MD, prior to entering the Army on Oct 28, 1942. He trained at Harlingen, TX, where he received his wings; Boise, Idaho; Sioux Falls, S.D., Gowen Field, Idaho, and Langley Field, VA, before going overseas.

Sergeant O’Donnell served in China with the 14th Air Force of the U.S. Army Air Corps, 308th Bomb Group, 425th Bomb Squadron, as part of a B-24D Liberator bomber crew. He was trained as a Radio Operator and as an aerial gunner. The Radio Operator's position was in the upper fuselage near the cockpit and the top turret. Every 30 minutes, he would give position reports over the radio, assisting the navigator in informing headquarters of targets attacked and results. If needed in combat, he would take over a single-50-cal. flexible machine gun at one of the waist positions in the plane’s mid-section.

Sgt. O’Donnell was overseas for only three months when, on July 8, 1944, his B-24 crashed shortly after take-off from Kunming Airfield, while enroute to a bombing target in Canton, China, north of Hong Kong. He was killed. It isn’t clear if anyone in the crew survived the crash. It’s very difficult to find military records that document what happened. The plane could have been shot down by Japanese fighters, or, more likely, crashed due to engine failure or some other mechanical malfunction. He is now buried in the Cathedral Cemetery, Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, USA.

James was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is 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