Harvey Lias was born on November 23, 1923 and was from Akron, Iowa. He served as the regular tail gunner on B-25 (42-107566), and due to sickeness was not abord during the fateful July 10, 1944 flight of his aircraft.

On July 10, 1944 Lias’ plane part of the 441st Bomber Squadron, 320th Bomber Group. On July 10, 1944, the Group was missioned to bomb the northern span of a railroad bridge in Marzabotto, Italy. Enroute to the target, the plane received a direct hit of anti-aircraft fire. The direct hit blew the left wing and horizontal stabilizer off, sending the plane into an uncontrollable spin and trapping the crew inside. A photographer in a plane above, captured the monument just before the plane’s impending doom; an iconic photo depicting the great sacrifice of the United States Army Air Forces during the war. (See the pictures for this iconic photograph). The B-26, with bombs still aboard crashed into a hill just outside Lamadi Reno. (Reference: Missing Aircraft Report {MACR} 6454)

Lias returned to Italy to in the 1990s to find the crash site to remember his friends and fellow crewmen. With the help of local Italisn, he found the site and left a marker remembering the sacrifice his fellow crewmates made.