Crew of B-26 Marauder - type B-55-MA - s/n 42-96087 "YAO" |
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Lieutenant-Colonel | Don L WEISS | Pilot |
Dead - Arlington Cem. Virginia |
O-437629 - DFC/Air Medal+10/Purple Heart |
1st Lieutenant | Axel P SLUSTROP | CoPilot |
Dead - Arlington Cem. Virginia |
O-738483 - DFC/Air Medal+9/Purple Heart |
1st Lieutenant | David MESEROW | Bomber |
Dead - Arlington Cem. Virginia |
O-732880 - DFC/Air Medal+10/Purple Heart |
1st Lieutenant | George H HAZLETT | Navigator |
Dead - Arlington Cem. Virginia |
O-794005 - DFC/Air Medal+11/Purple Heart |
T/Sergeant | Robert E PERKINS | Gunner |
Dead - Cim Air Medal Colleville-sur-Mer |
33297432 - Air Medal+8/Purple Heart |
S/Sergeant | John H CANTY | Gunner |
Dead - Cim Air Medal Colleville-sur-Mer |
11072858 - DFC/Air Medal/Purple Heart |
S/Sergeant | Thomas MCCASLIN | Gunner |
Dead - Cim Air Medal Colleville-sur-Mer |
17038437 - DFC/Air Medal+11/Purple Heart |
Capitaine | Orville D THATCHER | Passager | Dead | O-356255 - IOWA - Médecin |
The bones of an American soldier returned to the United States The bones and the identification plate of a US soldier from the Second World War were recently discovered south of Caen. They were returned to US authorities. |
It is not unusual to find bones dating from the Second World War around Caen. Yesterday, at the entrance of Evrecy, bones of an American soldier were discovered on a construction site. He was probably killed in the fighting on Hill 112. About two months ago, it was in another commune in the south of Caen that a British enthusiast of military history, commissioned to search for pilots who died during the Second World War, discovered bones accompanied by According to the number written on it, it is a member of the crew of an American plane of the 386th Bomb Group, the B 26 B-55-Marauder, (serial number 42-96087, code YA-O). This gunner took off from an American base in Great Britain, June 22, 1944 and had the mission to bomb a German staff on Caen. |
While flying over Caen, he is hit by the Flak (German DCA) with a direct hit. The projectile crosses the plane and causes its explosion in full flight. The crews of the other aircraft of the formation are witnesses of the fall of its debris. The bodies of four crew members, including the pilot, are found and buried at Arllington Military Cemetery. Two others are a little later, but the last member of the éqiupage was not found. Until recently… Yesterday Thursday, a delegation of the American Consulate, based in Rennes, accompanied by representatives of the State Secretariat for Defense, recovered the remains of Sub-Sergeant John H Canty, B 26 B YA-O gunner, in the premises of the gendarmerie brigade of Evrecy. The bones will be surveyed at a US Army research center in Hawaii. Then they will be given to the family or buried in an American cemetery, such as Colleville-sur-Mer. |
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Nicolas CLAICH - Libertebonhomme.fr |
INFORMATION & PHOTO SOURCE | Francecrashes39-45.net - Aad.archives.gov - Findagrave.com - Frédéric LAVERNHE - Omaha World Herald - Paris-normandie.fr |
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PROGRAMMER | Frédéric & Renaud |