Robert Francis Phalen

Korean War
Service #AO-706631
Unit93 BOMB SQ 19 BOMB WING
RankFirst Lieutenant U.S. Air Force
Date of DeathOctober 31 1952
StatusMissing In Action
Memorialized
Courts of the Missing
Court
8
Air Medal
Distinguished Flying Cross
Korean Service Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Purple Heart
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
Republic of Korea War Service Medal
United Nations Service Medal
For his leadership and valor, First Lieutenant Phalen was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
Notes
First Lieutenant Phalen was a crew member of a B-29A Superfortress Bomber with the 93rd Bomber Squadron, 19th Bomber Wing, based at Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa. On October 31, 1952, when his aircraft was returning from a mission over Korea and was about 110 miles from Kadena, it developed engine trouble and crashed into the ocean. Eleven crew members were lost. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.