John Robert Waite was born on April 25, 1922, in Ohio. He was the son of Clyde Wallace Waite and Esther Julia Rowan Waite. He served as a combat weather forecaster in the U.S. Army Air Corps with the 15th Operational Weather Squadron and was later assigned to the FEAF Regional Control and Weather Group (Provisional) in Townsville, Queensland, beginning October 25, 1944.

On July 27, 1945, Corporal Waite flew as an observer with a Royal Australian Air Force B-24L Liberator crew led by Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Hanson of No. 21 (City of Melbourne) Squadron on a photographic reconnaissance mission over Northern Sulawesi Island, when the aircraft was struck by anti-aircraft fire near Tomohon and crashed. Several crew members were seen bailing out, but none ultimately survived, and the wreckage was located the following day.

Cpl Waite is now buried in the Ambon War Cemetery, Ambon, Kota Ambon, Maluku, Indonesia. He also has a cenotaph in the Forest Hill Cemetery, Napoleon, Henry County, Ohio, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave, www.aircrewremembered.com, www.pacificwrecks.com