Brooklyn to Palau: A Mother’s Search for Her Son
By James Witkoski, M.A., Research Analyst
Figure 1: “Brief” in flight. Source- National Archives.
4 May 1945: Angaur Airfield, Palau Islands.
On Angaur Island, 2nd Lt George Custer and his crew of the 867th Bombardment Squadron, 494th Bombardment Group of the 7th Air Force were briefed on their mission to bomb targets in Palau’s northern islands. Once they had their instructions, Custer’s B-24, nicknamed “Brief” took off to attack the Japanese positions on Koror Island just 40 miles north. Amongst the “Brief’s” crew of eleven was top turret gunner Corporal Irving Topp of Brooklyn, New York.
After a short flight, 2nd Lt. Custer had his aircraft lined up over Koror Town. As they were on their bombing run, the plane was met with intense enemy anti-aircraft fire. Immediately after releasing their bombs, the Japanese anti-aircraft gunners hit 2nd Lt. Custer’s B-24 twice in the left wing. Almost immediately, the left wing of the B-24 sheared off and the aircraft plummeted towards the earth. Witnesses aboard nearby aircraft watched helplessly as the plane went down. In a rare instance, the entire incident was also filmed and photographed.
Figure 2: “Brief” going down on 4 May 1945. Source- National Archives.
Brooklyn, NY
In an apartment in Brooklyn, New York, Corporal Topp’s mother Anna Topp, like millions of American mothers, constantly thought about her son and hoped for his safe return. However, in the summer of 1945, she was notified that her son was declared missing in action after his aircraft had been shot down over Palau. That July, the Brooklyn Eagle reported that Corporal Topp was the only Brooklynite listed as missing in action in the Pacific region. In 1946, after the war ended and all American POWs had been repatriated, Mrs. Topp’s hopes of finding her son alive dwindled. The idea that her son was still missing after the war far off in the Pacific consumed her thoughts and caused even greater suffering.
Figure 3: Brooklyn Eagle story noting Corporal Irving Topp was missing. Source- Newspapers.com.
April 1947- December 1948. Palau Islands
From 1947-1951, the U.S. undertook the World War II Return of the Dead program. As a result, American military personnel searched the globe for Americans who were missing or killed to recover and repatriate them either back home or to a permanent cemetery abroad. On 20 April 1947, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) search teams were searching Palau’s northern islands when they received a lead on wreckage in the area from Koror police captain, Ngiringas. After struggling through the dense mangrove swamps just to the south of Koror, Ngiringas led the team to the debris of a B-24 bomber. After some additional work in the area, it was determined that this was the wreckage of “Brief.” The AGRS team then recovered the remains of an estimated four crewmembers from the aircraft, although they had no way to determine their individual identities. The AGRS team also found many personal effects from the crew including shoes, photos, and a watch. The forensic and material evidence were carefully cataloged and sent to the Philippines for possible identification, either as individuals or as a group. In December 1948, after additional searches of the wreck site, American officials determined that they had collected the remains of ten of the eleven crewmembers. According to war crimes testimony, the eleventh man, 2nd Lt. Wallace Kaufman, had bailed out of the aircraft but was subsequently captured and executed by Japanese forces in 1945.
Figure 4: AGRS record documenting the discovery of “Brief” in 1947. Source- National Archives.
Brooklyn, New York
In early 1949, Anna Topp received the news that her son was identified as part of a group burial of his crew. Despite official findings, Anna doubted the results of the analysis and believed that her son might still be alive. This doubt launched an incredible two-decade journey to try and find the answers about her son. Unwilling to stay home and convinced that her son was still alive, Anna Topp decided that she would put her life on pause and go to Palau herself to investigate. To secure permission to travel to Palau, Mrs. Topp conducted a decade-long letter campaign to connect herself with key members of the U.S. government.
By the end of 1955, American government representatives had all uniformly granted Anna Topp permission to travel to Palau if she could pay her own way and make her own accommodations for travel and lodging. In one of the final letters however, the Deputy High Commissioner of the Trust Territories, of which Palau was a part in the 1950s, gently tried to sway her against making the trip. Specifically, the commissioner advised that “the trip will be a long hard one, an expensive undertaking… and will serve no purpose other than to view the site of the crash itself, which we feel will be a sad and heartbreaking experience.” Despite these and other warnings, Anna Topp departed Brooklyn in 1956 for a trip halfway around the world to try and find the truth about her son.
Palau Islands
On 13 October 1956, Anna Topp arrived in Palau and began her private investigation and search for her son, Cpl. Irving Topp. While the resources of the American occupational government on Palau were made available, Mrs. Topp accepted the offer to be guided to the wreckage of “Brief” only once, by an American administrator. Outside of this, Anna Topp enlisted the aid of a Palauan hotel employee to serve as a translator. Through this translator, she was able to meet with and interview dozens of locals about their knowledge of wrecks, American POWs, and information that she hoped would lead to her son. Mrs. Topp and many Palauans also spread fliers throughout the islands with Irving Topp’s photo and requests for more information.
Over two months, Mrs. Topp spoke with dozens of Palauans and gained their trust and admiration as a mother who had traveled thousands of miles to try and find her son. Additionally, she visited the wreck site of her son’s plane four times and was told about the possible location of a number of unmarked graves. While she was unable to disinter them, these findings gave her the inspiration to eventually return and continue to search for her son in the future.
Figure 5: Missing poster that Anna Topp posted throughout Palau. Source- findagrave.com.
Japan
Following her 1956 trip to Palau, Anna Topp was further convinced that the American government had not located her son’s remains. To obtain more evidence, she decided to travel to Japan to find and interview former Japanese troops stationed in Palau during the war. Mrs. Topp traveled to Japan in 1962 and again in 1969. On her first visit, she received no assistance from the American or Japanese governments, but in 1969 the Japanese government provided her the names and addresses of some Palau veterans. During her travels, she met a few unnamed former Japanese troops and a doctor who interrogated or treated American prisoners. While none of them recalled seeing her son, the details of these interviews convinced her that a return trip to Palau was necessary.
Figure 6: Poughkeepsie Journal- 1962 Article on Anna Topp’s efforts to find her son. Source- Newspapers.com
Palau Islands
Anna Topp made her final visit to Palau in 1972 to finish the work of her first trip nearly two decades earlier. On her return visit, she requested and obtained permission from the Palauan Mayor of Koror to disinter what she believed was the unmarked grave of her son based on the interviews with a former Japanese military doctor. Mrs. Topp and generous Palauan volunteers recovered a few bones, including two skulls, one of which she was convinced belonged to her son. Local laws stipulated that Mrs. Topp had to turn the remains over to Palauan government representatives for safe keeping and transport to Guam for testing. Once in Guam, an anthropological examination confirmed that the disinterred remains were Japanese in origin, and restated their belief that Cpl. Topp was indeed found back in 1947.
A Mother’s Drive
The trauma of ambiguous loss experienced by Anna Topp was keenly felt by all Gold Star mothers whose sons and daughters had gone missing in conflicts around the globe. In the absence of closure, families often created stories of survival or amnesia to hold on to a glimmer of hope that their loved one might still be alive. It was that hope that drove Anna Topp across the world to try and prove that her son was not dead. Whether her travels and investigations brought her closer to her son or provided some closure, we’ll never know. Today, Cpl. Irving Topp’s status is officially Killed in Action, and he is buried with the rest of his crew in the Long Island National Cemetery in New York.
Figure 7: Headstone of “Brief” crew in New York. Source- Findagrave.com.
While Anna Topp was able to investigate her son’s death from Brooklyn to Palau to Japan, many Gold Star families received insufficient information about what happened to their loved ones. More than 81,000 Americans are still missing from past conflicts. At Project Recover, our goal is not only to recover and repatriate, but also to help lead Gold Star families down a path of better understanding of their loss. Project Recover is committed to honoring the sacrifice of the missing and the families who have given so much. But we need your help to do it. Every mission requires funding, expertise, and the support of people who refuse to let these heroes be forgotten.
Here’s how you can make a difference:
- Share this story. The families of those whose loved ones are still Missing in Action have deep traumatic wounds that never fully heal. Stories such as Anna Topp’s are an example of the lengths some families go to find answers, and are the reason why we continue our work.
- Support Project Recover. Your donation funds the research and expeditions that make recoveries possible. Donate today
- Stay connected. Follow our work and be the first to hear when we return to continue the search. Sign up for updates.
Photography and Imagery
- “Brief” in flight and after being hit- National Archives
- AGRS Report- National Archives
- Missing Poster and headstone- www.findagrave.com
Official Documents and Records
- Missing Air Crew Report 9326- National Archives.
- AGRS Report- National Archives
Newspaper Clippings
- Brooklyn Eagle and Poughkeepsie Journal articles- www.newspapers.com
