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Personal info

Full name
COLE, Charles Francis
Date of birth
19 July 1919
Age
24
Place of birth
Colby, Thomas County, Kansas
Hometown
Cook County, Illinois

Military service

Service number
O-803777
Rank
First Lieutenant
Function
Pilot
Unit
335th Bombardment Squadron,
95th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
10 February 1944
Place of death
Near Emden, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
B 23 17

Immediate family

Members
David Cole (father)
Bertha (Herold) Cole (mother)
David Cole (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-37826
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Brunswick, Germany
MACR: 2543

More information

1st Lt Charles F. Cole graduated from Colby High School in 1937 and attended the University of Illinois before entering the service on 5 March 1941.

Received order to bail out over the intercom from Lt. Cole after the plane was mortally damaged due to enemy action. Lt. Cole was still in the ship at the time of the explosion.

The picture was taken in high school in 1937.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archive.gov, www.ancestry.com, www.fold3.com, University of Illinois Veterans Memorial Project; U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, WWII Draft Card

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Colby High School, 1937