Norman Ernest GROSS
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NORMAN GROSS
Academic Hobby Club, Refreshment Committee, Dramatics, Intramurals, College Research Club, Silhouette, Homeroom Officer, Assembly Committee, Yearbook Staff, Senior Class Vice-President, Savings Fund Committee, Senior Forum Source : Paul Webber
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NUMBER OF SERVICE | O-807422 (13111835) | ||||||
AGE | 20 yo | ||||||
DATE OF BIRTH | 23 August 1923 Sewickley, Allegheny County, PENNSYLVANIA | ||||||
ENLISTMENT STATE | PENNSYLVANIA | ||||||
FAMILY |
Married Parents : Ernest J. & Mae Louella (Earle) GROSS | ||||||
RANK | First Lieutenant | ||||||
FONCTION | Pilot | ||||||
JOB BEFORE ENLISTEMENT | Semiskilled occupations in fabrication of metal products | ||||||
DATE of ENLISTEMENT | 20 Juillet 1942 Pittsburgh PENNSYLVANIA | ||||||
SQUADRON | 838th Bomber Squadron | ||||||
GROUP | 487th Bomber Group, Heavy | ||||||
ARMY | 8th US Air Force | ||||||
DATE OF DEATH | 6 June 1944 |
Source : Paul Webber | |||||
STATUS | KIA | ||||||
PLACE OF DEATH | In Sea | ||||||
DATA PLAN |
Bombardier B-24H 42-52629 "Sweatin' It Out" Macr: 6484 Take off: Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk | ||||||
CEMETERY | CAMBRIDGE AMERICAN CEMETERY de Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire | ||||||
GRAVE |
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DECORATION |
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STORY | |||||||
First Lieutenant Norman Ernest Gross, Army serial number O-807422, was born in the Ohio River Valley at Sewickley, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on August 23, 1923. He was the oldest of seven children of Ernest J. Gross (21 Apr 1900 – Mar 1981), who was born at Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; and Mae Louella (Earle) Gross (abt 1901 – unk), who was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents married about 1922. His father was a machinist and millwright in a steel fabrication plant. By 1935 the family lived at 900 Second Avenue, Conway, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Ambridge High School in Ambridge, Beaver County, Pennsylvania in 1941. His photo in the senior class yearbook is accompanied by this entry: | |||||||
He registered for the draft at Baden, Beaver County, Pennsylvania on June 30, 1942. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighed 142 pounds, and had blue eyes and brown hair. At that time he lived with his parents and worked with his father at National Supply, a steel fabrication company in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. He worked in a semiskilled occupation in the fabrication of metal products, and was single when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 20, 1942. He married after enlisting. Here is the roster of the Gross crew on June 6, 1944: | |||||||
Equipage du B-24H 42-52629 "Sweatin'It Out"
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In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, the 487th Bomb Group dispatched two Squadrons on the first of three missions that the Group flew on D-Day. The Gross crew flew B-24H 42-52629 'Sweatin' It Out' on this mission. The 487th Bomb Group was assigned to bomb a choke point—a road junction—in Caen, France to disrupt German transportation. The Group's assembly in the dark over England took five hours, much longer than planned. Then a complete undercast prevented the crews from bombing the target. On the return, the entire heavy bomber force was routed away from the Allied shipping area, to the west of the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. Lt Gross and his nine crewmates went missing in action when their aircraft ran out of fuel and went down in the English Channel. A station at Saffron Walden, England received a distress call from the crew at 0842, which indicated that the aircraft was about 35 miles northwest of the Cherbourg Peninsula, and all four engines were dead. The aircraft's last reported position was 49°52'N, 02°38'W, some 20 to 25 miles northwest of the Channel Island of Alderney. Other crews almost ran out of fuel before landing at bases near the English coast. PFC Gross was captured and went missing in action during the Korean War. |
Brother's Norman E | Myron Earl GROSS «Bluey»
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ARMY SERIAL NUMBER | 13308922 |
Source : GraveHunter Source : GraveHunter | ||
AGE | 19 yo | |||
DATE OF BIRTH | 6 Décembre 1931 | |||
STATE | PENNSYLVANIA | |||
FAMILY | Parents : Ernest J. & Mae Louella (Earle) GROSS | |||
RANK | Private First Class | |||
UNIT | 2nd Platoon - Company B - 1st Battalion | |||
21st Infantry Regiment - 24th Infantry Division | ||||
DATE OF DEATH | 14 January 1951 | |||
PLACE OF DEATH | NORTH KOREA | |||
PLACE OF DEATH | HONOLULU CEMETERY & MEMORIAL to Puowaina | |||
Korean Service Medal Combat Infantryman Badge United Nations Service Medal National Defense Service Medal Korean Presidential Unit Citation Republic of Korea War Service Medal |
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SOURCE INFORMATION & SOURCE PHOTO | Findagrave.com - Abmc.gov |
SOURCE INFORMATION & SOURCE PHOTO | Aad.archives.gov - Findagrave.com - Abmc.gov - Storiesbehindthestars.org |
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PROGRAMMER | Henri, Garrett, Clive, Frédéric & Renaud |