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18 JUNE 1945 - Second Lieutenant William J. LaBonte, pilot of "Playmate 36", departed Puerto Princessa at 0545 on his rescue mission and at 0740 broke out of the overcast at the tip of Salambangan Island at 07° 15'N, 118°55'E, off the entrance of Marado Bay, North Borneo. Lieutenant LaBoute saw a column of smoke on the Island and proceeded to investigate. Upon approaching his objective he saw several flares fired from the lee of the island. Arriving at the origin of the flares he sighted a wrecked PB4Y in a marshy area near the tip of the Island with the crew standing by. Inasmuch as the water was too rough to land, Lieutenant LaBonte dropped a message to proceed to the eastern tip of the Bay. He landed on choppy water at 0800 and awaited the arrival of the survivors. At 0920, the 12 members of the Navy PB4Y arrived in 3 rafts at the rescue ship and were taken aboard. The life rafts were also taken aboard and after a four to five mile run due to heavy load, the ship became airborne at 0930, setting course for Puerto Princessa and arriving at 1130.

The Navy crew of 12 men, none of whom were injured, was as follows: (P) Lieutenant Brand, (CP) Ens J.P. Kayser, (N) Ens V.C. Rock, (E) A2/C Chester H. Slusser, (R) A2/C L.F. Saccoman, (AG) AOM 3/C Robert Kayanaugh, (AB) AMM 3/C Jay H. Cooper, (E) ARM 3/C Leslie B. Nittelstadt, S 1/C L.E. Richardson, and S1/C Paul C. Miller.

The pilot stated that while returning from an extensive ship search of 13.5 hours he encountered foul weather, his 400 gallons of reserve fuel was rapidly being depleted and his radio compass was out. Knowing that it was impossible to reach his base, and with only 20 minutes of daylight left, he elected to land his heavy ship before darkness. He searched the island and found a fairly clear marshy area near the shore and landed at 80 knots with full flaps on the soft soil, skidding about 400 feet before he came to a stop. No one was injured and all the ship's emergency equipment was intact. The pilots investigated their surroundings and posted three guards. All men  were well armed and prepared for a Jap attack. During the night a plane passed low over their camp but they did not signal it for fear of informing the Japs of their position. At 0500 hours, 18 June they heard patrols overhead. There was insufficient wind to sustain their kites so they used the ship's antenna as an aerial and set the Gibson Girl in operation for only a few minutes. Their message was intercepted and their position plotted. At 0735, a rescue plane was sighted bearing down on them. They ignited a smoke flare, directing the PBY to their camp and ultimate rescue.

Rescued PB4Y crew: (P) Lieutenant Brand, (CP) Ens J.P. Kayser, (N) Ens V.C. Rock, (E) A2/C Chester H. Slusser, (R) A2/C L.F. Saccoman, (AG) AOM 3/C Robert Kayanaugh, (AB) AMM 3/C Jay H. Cooper, (E) ARM 3/C Leslie B. Nittelstadt, S 1/C L.E. Richardson, and S1/C Paul C. Miller.

AIRCRAFT: OA-10A   44-33930   CALLSIGN:  "PLAYMATE 36"    CREW: (P) 2Lt William J. LaBonte, (CP) F/O Christensen, (N) 2Lt Watkins, (R) Sgt Young, (V) Sgt Kimball, (E) Sgt Goldstein, (ST) Cpl Stalpinski
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