A more detailed view on the 'JOSE CARIOCA' and it’s crew last moments were written in the Operation Tidal Wave book, by Vincent DePaul Lupiano.

"Five miles from the target, José Carioca takes a massive jolt in the bomb bay’s Tokyo tank. Carioca shimmies and shutters. Flames indicate disaster. Pilot Nicholas Stampolis and co-pilot Ivan Cranfield feel the heatwave from the blast and their eardrums ring from the concussive shock wave. Smoke in the cockpit obscures their vision. A second shell hits Carioca, and flames spread from the cockpit to the tail gunner’s station. They fly on to their assigned target, aflame for the next three minutes; it is impossible to extinguish the fire. This is the first combat mission for Lieutenant Stampolis and Lieutenant Stanfield. They told one of the mechanics at Benghazi that they wanted to get on with it, that they wanted to notch twenty-five missions and go home. Immediately after takeoff from Benghazi, they had a leaking fuel cap, returned, and then hustled to rejoin their formation. They arrive over the target now, toggle their bombs, then fly toward the city of Ploesti. The fire spreads throughout their plane, burns through control cables, melts hydraulic lines and aluminum fuselage. Approaching Ploieşti, Stanfield and Stampolis see a tall building that they must surpass; they do. But their efforts are futile. José Carioca is not doing any more flying today. Her glowing belly crunches and slides and slams over roof chimneys and parapets in a spray of bricks, flames, and brightly-hued sparks. Down below rooftops and skidding on Redului Street, wings shear off, flaps, ailerons spiral away. Flames, plane parts, smoke, trail Carioca’s path until she slams nose-first into the Ploiesti Women’s Prison with deadly finality. Political prisoners and American fliers commingle in the firestorm. Her nose hits so hard and explodes so loud, people a mile away hear the tragedy; some make the sign of the cross. Ten crewmen are killed; five crewmen’s remains will be recovered. There are sixty-one dead and eighty wounded. The fire burns for the rest of the afternoon."

Something that is wrongly repeated in almost all the books and articles regarding Operation Tidal Wave is that Nick flew his first combat sortie during that fateful mission, something already discussed previously above. Apart from the references on the books above, most interesting are the official statements on 7 July 1944 concerning Missing Aircraft #42-40617 B-24D, 1 August 1943. The witnesses were John R. Colvin (co-pilot on Kendall's crew in 41-24215 'LUCKY'] and Raymond C. Wierciszewski (who shortened his name to Raymond Wier after the war) engineer on Desert's crew in 41-24105 'TUPELO LASS' who was flying near Stampolis as they made their bombing run.

Colvin stated:

"1. On the mission of 1 August 1943, Aircraft #42-40617-N was flying on the right element of the wave ahead of us. On entering the outskirts of the city, at approximately 1400 hours, while flying at a height of 25-50 feet, 617-N appeared to receive a direct hit in the forward section of the bomb bay from flak. In all probability, the bomb bay tanks were hit and caught fire.

2. Within 15-30 seconds the complete bomb bay was enveloped in flames and the aircraft started down. In another 30 seconds, the aircraft had crashed and exploded in the center of town starting a large fire.

3. It is very improbable that any of the crew members survived the explosion. None were seen to bail out.

Wierciszewski  stated:

"1. Approaching the target, Aircraft #42-40617 was flying to the right of our ship, 42-24105, and a little ahead of us. Just as we passed over the target, 617 was evidently hit in the bomb bay, because from that point on a streak of flame poured out from underneath the fuselage of the plane, appearing as if the bomb bay tank was hit by incendiaries. As the aircraft flew on toward the center of the target it seemed to be heading towards the ground in a very definite glide. Suddenly the whole bomb bay enveloped itself in flames and not more than 15 seconds later I saw 617 crash into a flat, large building almost in the center of the city. Upon crashing it immediately exploded.

2. I didn't notice any of the crew attempting to bail out prior to the crash and I believe it was too low for anyone to escape. in that way. After the plane crashed into the building it would have been impossible for anyone to have gotten out of it.

3. The aircraft must have hit the building at an airspeed of 250 miles per hour or more."

 

One more account was given to our team by Dan Paxton, whose uncle, Sgt. Glenn D. McCarty, was a gunner of Nick’s crew. While researching his uncle service and loss he came in contact with Mack Fitzgerald, who flew with B-24D-45-CO 42-40265, 'HONKY TONK GAL'

"Dan. I just read your inquiry regarding Glenn. I regret to say that I did not know him. However, I did watch his plane as it struck and entered the women's prison. That will always be etched in my memory. I was the flight engineer on "Honky Tonk Gal". As an engineer, I was assigned to the top turret. That gave me a clear view of everything that was happening. We were just behind and to the left of his plane. Noting that they were losing altitude, and heading straight toward the building, I watched as they hit the end of what appeared to be a 3 or 4 story brick building. A large hole and a puff of smoke came out. I can assure you he did not suffer. Being at the window in the back, He most likely never knew what happened. However, I know the five up front know what their fate would be. Shortly after that, we were hit several times and lost power. We cleared the target and crash in a wheat field. The lost navigator and the pilot lost his foot in the crash. I know this info is not what you are looking for. However, I did want you to know that I was there and watched as he, and his crew, left us."

In recent years controversy arose regarding the way JOSE CARIOCA was brought down. From eyewitnesses in the bombers next to it, it was hit by anti-aircraft fire. However Romanian pilot Anastasescu claimed that he destroyed two bombers, one of them being Nicks plane, which he rams. Although some flak crews supported his claims it’s almost impossible that none of the crews of the bombers flying next to Stampolis plane didn’t see the enemy fighter, especially when the fighter collided with the bomber according to some  Romanian sources. Most probably Anastasescu IAR-80 was hit by the same flak which destroyed JOCE CARIOCA. Recently other Romanian aviation history researchers report that the incident was made up of propaganda and Anastasescu kept claiming those kills. In fact, his account for the infamous Ploesti raid and his kills was reproduced by many Western books.

The news of Nick Stampolis death on his 7th mission was devastating for his family and the Greek American community of Kalamazoo. For his actions, the Greek American pilot was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart. It is not known if his best friend, Arthur, learned about his death. A few days later, on August 17, 1943, Sugas was killed during the infamous first Schweinfurt raid by the German Experten Johannes Naumann, while flying his final mission. It was a tragic end for both friends. They lived together and died together on the line of duty, defending freedom and honoring their adopted country United States and Greece.