This site details the history before and after the final moments of B-17F 42-30762.
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The Porkies B-17 

Crew #3349 

Pilot: Thomas Smith Jr.                                                       Co-Pilot: Louis Starks

Bombadier: Raymond Rietschel                                          Navigator: Alexander Calder

Waist Gunner: Calvin Seiler                                               Upper Gunner: Richard Hayes

Engineer: Charles Sturgeon                                                 Radio Operator: Delmer Spears

Tail Gunner: Leonard Rogers                                             Ball Turret Gunner: Jess Britton

At 10:35 pm on 18 April, 1944, B-17F 42-30762 took off from Sioux City (IA) Army Air Base on a 1000 mile night navigation training mission. At 1:55 am, about 15 miles west of Marquette, #3 engine was reported to be on fire and the crew would turn for Duluth, MN for repairs. Attempts to feather the engine failed and the engine blew. The pilot turned for land, and upon confirmation from the navigator, the order to bail out was given at approximately 2:10am. The first four crewmen to bail out landed almost on the beach of Lake Superior at Union Bay, and walked to Silver City. By 10:00 am that morning, a Civil Air Patrol spotter had located the wrecked plane. By noon, all but one of the crew had been rescued. Sgt. Leonard Rogers was found two days later walking down a remote logging road.

Two months later, crew #3349 flew their first completed combat mission over Bordeaux, France aboard a B-17G, 42-107030, named Fifinella. On 13 August, 1944, on what was most of the crew’s 20^th mission, Fifinella was shot down over La Manor, France. Pilot Thomas Smith Jr. was killed in action, but the rest of the crew bailed out safely.

In April of 1991, many of the surviving crew had a reunion in Ontonagon to revisit their first crash site.

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Between 1941 and 1945 there were 7,100 fatal United States Army Air Force (USAAF) aircraft  crashes in the continental United States alone. Some 15,500 Army airmen were killed in these accidents.*  Navy, Marine and Coast Guard statistics could not be verified but are equally appalling.

While these men never met the enemy, they still gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

*Fatal Army Air Force Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945, Anthony J. Mireless