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Richard William MONTELL Jr
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Source : Gilad Bashan
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| NUMBER OF SERVICE | O-725770 (19053579) | ||||||
| AGE | 27 yo | ||||||
| DATE OF BIRTH | 26 novembre 1916 San Francisco County, CALIFORNIA | ||||||
| ENLISTMENT STATE | CALIFORNIA | ||||||
| FAMILY | Single | ||||||
| RANK |
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| FONCTION | Pilot | ||||||
| JOB BEFORE ENLISTEMENT | Skilled pattern and model makers, except paper |  | |||||
| DATE of ENLISTEMENT | 3 November 1941 San Francisco CALIFORNIA | ||||||
| SQUADRON | 504th Fighter Squadron | ||||||
| GROUP | 339th Fighter Group | ||||||
| ARMY | 8th US Air Force | ||||||
| DATE OF DEATH | 15 June 1944 |
Source : F Lavernhe | |||||
| STATUS | KIA | ||||||
| PLACE OF DEATH | Lieu-dit Malvoisine - Nogent-le-Rotrou (28) | ||||||
| DATA PLAN |
P-51 Mustang - type B-15 - s/n 42-24772
Macr : 5742 | ||||||
| CEMETERY TEMPORARY |
CEMETERY TEMPORARY of St André N°3572
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| CEMETERY | NORMANDY AMERICAN CEMETERY of Colleville | ||||||
| GRAVE |
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| DECORATION |
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| STORY | |||||||
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Commemorative stele in Saint-Germain-des-Grois Source : Christophe Roullier |
Source : usafdo | ||||||
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Richard William Montell, Jr. was born on November 26, 1916, in San Francisco, California to Richard William Montell Sr. and Catherine Anita Manuel. When he was young, his family moved across the bay to the city of Alameda where his father was employed as a civil engineer for the City of Alameda. Their home was at 1717 8th St in Alameda which he shared with his parents and brothers Charles and Kenneth. Richard graduated from Alameda High School in 1934 and was a skilled pattern and model maker. After he completed three years at the University of California in Berkeley, Richard enlisted in the United States Army on 3 November 1941. His initial rank was Aviation Cadet in the Regular Army Air Corps and he was issued the service number19053579. After flight training, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and issued a new service number O-725770. 1Lt. Montell was attached to the 504th fighter squadron, 339 fighter group, and stationed in France. His assigned aircraft was a North American Aviation P-51 # 43-24772. On 15 June 1944, 1st Lt. Montell was in a group of fighters escorting bombers over France when they were attacked by fighters from the Luftwaffe. During this engagement, Lt. Montell’s aircraft disappeared from the formation and was not seen again. The remains of First Lieutenant Richard William Montell, Jr. are buried in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, Department du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France Plot D Row 26, Grave 42. On 28 May 1946, 1Lt. Montell was among the seventy-four former students of Alameda High School who were honored at a memorial service at the school. As part of the service, a bronze plaque bearing the names of all seventy-four gold star alumna was presented. |
Source : USAAF Class Book Research Project & Arie-Jan van Hees (Ellen Marchese) | ||||||
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Source : Fold3 | |||||||
| SOURCE INFORMATION & SOURCE PHOTO | Francecrashes39-45.net - Aad.archives.gov - Findagrave.com - Abmc.gov - Fold3 |
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| PROGRAMMER | Henri, Garrett, Clive, Frédéric & Renaud |