David J. NELSON 

 

nelson david j 1
NUMBER OF SERVICEO-552168
AGE23 yo
DATE OF BIRTH16 July 1921
ETATILLINOIS
FAMILY 
RANK2nd Lieutenant
FONCTIONCo Pilot
JOB BEFORE ENLISTEMENT IL
DATE of ENLISTEMENT 
 SQUADRON322nd Bomber Squadron
  GROUP91st Bomber Group, Heavy
ARMY8th US Air Force
DATE OF DEATH8 August 1944

nelson david j mur 1

Brittany American Cemetery - Wall of Missing(Rosette)

nelson david j stele2

Arlington National Cemetery

STATUSKIA
PLACE OF DEATHLonlay-L'Abbaye
DATA PLAN B-17 Fortress - type G-15-BO - s/n 42-31367 LG*R

"Chow Hound"

b17
Macr: 8079
Mission: Bretteville-sur-Laize (14)
Take-Off: Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire UK

Remains discovered in 2002 by the ANSA 39/45
Hit by flak

Plane cut in half - the part before exploding in flight

nelson david j chow hound 2

CEMETERYBRITTANY AMERICAN CEMETERY of St James

Map of St James American Cemetery

GRAVE
PlotRowGrave
Wall of Missing
DECORATION

Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Purple Heart

World War II Victory Medal 

Combat Infantryman Badge

 

am olc

Photo FDLM

victory medal

combat infantryman badge

 

usaf 8air force 91bg 322bs

 

    

STORY

 

2nd Lt. David J. Nelson, Chicago, Ill. On August 8, 1944, Nelson, Kortebein and Treece departed an allied air base in England in their B-17G Flying Fortress with six other crewmen aboard.Their mission was to bomb enemy targets near Caen, France.

The aircraft was seen to explode and crash after being struck by enemy flak near the village of Lonlay l'Abbaye, south of Caen. German forces and French villagers living near the crash site recovered some of the remains of the crew and buried them nearby.

Advancing U.S. forces found additional remains.Six of the nine crewmen ultimately were identified, but Nelson, Kortebein and Treece remained unaccounted for.

In August 2002, a team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) operating in Luxembourg was informed that a local French aircraft wreckage hunting group (Association Normande du Souvenir Aerien 39/45) had located a crash site near Lonlay l'Abbaye.The JPAC team surveyed the site, excavated it in July 2004 and recovered human remains, personal effects and crew-related materials from amid the wreckage.

Also found were six unexploded 250-pound bombs. Later that year, a French explosive ordnance disposal team turned over a bone fragment to the U. S. Defense Attache in Paris.

It was found by French technicians working to secure the site where the bombs had been found.

Among other forensic identification tools, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA in the identification of the remains of the three, matching DNA sequences from maternal relatives.

 

--

Crew of B-17 Fortress - type G-15-BO - s/n 42-31367 LG*R

"Chow Hound"

1st Lieutenant Jack R THOMPSON Pilot  Dead - Arlington Cem. Virginia   memorial chow hound
2nd Lieutenant David J NELSON Co-Pilot Dead - Arlington Cem. Virginia   nelson david j mur
2nd Lieutenant Charles F BACIGALUPA Navigator Dead - Arlington Cem. Virginia  
2nd Lieutenant Charles SHERRIL Bomber Dead - Arlington Cem. Virginia  
T/Sergeant Blake A Jr TREECE Radio/Gunner Dead - Arlington Cem. Virginia  
T/Sergeant Henry F KORTEBEIN Mechanic/Gunner Dead - Arlington Cem. Virginia  
T/Sergeant Gerald F GILLIES Gunner Dead - Arlington Cem. Virginia  
Sergeant Richard R COLLINS Gunner Dead - Cim Brit Am St-James collins richard r tombe
Sergeant Warren D GODSEY Gunner Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer godsey warren d tombe
91bg ab 17 chow oud

nelson david j team

Back Row - Left to Right

S/Sgt. John K. (Judge) Callaway, Left Waist Gunner; S/Sgt. John (Boots) Weddle, Ball Turret Gunner; T/Sgt. Joseph E. (Bing) Bentzel, Engineer; S/Sgt. Richard J. (Sparkling Richard) Pries, Radio Operator; S/Sgt. Charles L. (Chile) Nuse, Right Waist Gunner; S/Sgt. Roland R. Michel, Tail Gunner.

Back Row - Left to Right

S/Sgt. William J. Carlson, Bombardier; 2nd Lt. Joseph (Russian) Green, Co-pilot; 2nd Lt. Jerald L. (Newqie) Newquist, Pilot; 2nd Lt. Lamond J. (Buck) Bailey, Navigator.

Photo contributed by Bob Pries

nelson david j chow hound
  
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nelson david j stele

 

Stele in memory of the crew of the "Chow Hound"

 

Ceremony at Arlington Cemetery

nelson david j enterrement

SOURCE INFORMATION & PHOTOFindagrave.com - Findagrave.com - Abmc.gov - Francecrashes39-45.net - Carl Di MARIA
PROGRAMMERClive, Frédéric & Renaud
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