As tail gunner Sgt. Grady was able to see a collision on October 26, 1943, between B-24 "Boogie Woogie Bomb Buggy" and a Japanese Zero fighter, and his official statement was:
"As Tail Gunner on the lead ship of the second element, I was in a good position to see the B-24 go down.
I glanced at the B-24 in question just at the moment of the collision between the B-24 and the Zero. It was rather like an explosion in the rear section of the B-24 with pieces flying in all directions. The tail section was shattered and the plane from the side windows forward began a slow spin toward the earth. I saw one chute open shortly after the collision. The Zero began to spin down faster than the B-24 and I saw it crash but could not watch long enough to see the B-24 hit the ground. I saw no fires during the time I watched."
Only one of the crew survived, Bombardier, 2Lt. Gustaf E. Johnson, who was captured and imprisoned by the Japanese.
This event had a strong impact on Sgt. Grady, and he later painted the incident based on his vivid memories.
Comments
In the letter that accompanied the painting
I have a copy of this painting that Mr. Grady sent to my grandfather, Edward L. McCoy around 2002. In the letter that accompanied the painting, Tom Grady said this:
"This is a copy of a watercolor sketch I made of the incident or the incident where Lt. Vaughan's plane was cut in half by a Japanese. fighter. It happened on October 26, 1943 and I made the sketch the next summer in 1944. It is not a well-done piece of art I know. I did it as a test of my memory rather then a test of my artistic ability!
There are a couple of errors in the picture. At the time of the incident there were only two B-24's, ours and Vaughan's. I guess I put in the third B-24 on the right just for composition purposes. The rest of the formation was way ahead by then. Also, the letter says there were 3 Japanese fighters and I only show two."
The letter he mentions is a four page reply with illustrations describing the incident that was sent to Gus Johnson's uncle in September 1944 while his son was still missing in action. He had been held as a POW. Decades later, a member of Gus Johnson's family returned a copy of the letter to Mr. Grady.