Obie Jenkins
Rank: 1st Lieutenant
Branch: Army Air Corps
UT Major/Affiliation: Engineering, 1940-1942
Hometown: Blount County, TN
- March 9, 1917 – April 14, 1945
- Born in Blount County, TN
- Engineering – 1940-1942
- 1st LT – Army Air Corps
- Co-Pilot, B-29. 878th Bomb Sqn, 499th Bomb Grp. Shot down by enemy aircraft while returning from a bombing mission over Tokyo.
- Sawara in Chiba Prefecture crash site
- Flying out of Isley Field on Saipan
- Grandview Cemetery in Maryville, TN
Obie Jenkins (March 9, 1917 – April 14, 1945) was born in Blount County, Tennessee. He attended the University of Tennessee for Engineering from 1940 until he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942. He was trained as a co-pilot flying B-29 bombers and commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant. He was deployed to the Pacific Theater with the 878th Bomb Squadron of the 499th Bomb Group that operated out of Isley Field on Saipan. Towards the end of the war in 1945, the 878th was targeting mainland Japan with their bombing missions. 1st Lt. Jenkins was killed in action during a bombing raid that flew over Tokyo, Japan. After successfully bombing their targets, his B-29 came under attack by enemy fighter aircraft on its return. The B-29 crashed due to the damage on mainland Japan near Sawara in Chiba Prefecture. 1st Lt. Obie Jenkins and his B-29 were recovered at the end of the war, and he is buried at Grandview Cemetery in Maryville, TN.
