Jerry - thanks for posting this inquiry and the picture of the plane. My uncle, and namesake, Walter Van McCarty was also on the flight. He was a tail gunner on the 24, but on this hop he was a passenger. Interesting that the co-pilot's name was also McCarty.
Catch 22 - thanks for your spot on insight.
mjfur - thanks for the Nat. Archives Catalog link. Mrs. Knight's letter was most touching. My grandmother lost 2 sons in the war and the heartbreak really took a toll on her.
Jerry, here are a couple of links for you to peruse:
Pacific Wrecks
Jolly Rogers Index
The jolllyrogersweb.com site has been taken down and all the activity has moved over to Facebook:
The Jolly Rogers Who's Who (5th Airforce 90th Bomb Group - Heavy)
The downside to the FB page is there is no "search" feature. The old homepage had a typo on my uncle's name, after many attempts I finally gave up on getting it corrected, then the site went away! Also there is a Virtual Cemetery for the the flight, I'll have to find the address for you.
Thanks again for your interest and please keep me looped in.
-Van McCarty
Meridian, MS
re: photo
My uncle is seated far left on front row (slight x mark under him). There is no date/location or information on the aircraft. There are precious few pictures of him.