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Personal info

Full name
PAOLINO, Vincent Charles
Date of birth
30 September 1924
Age
19
Place of birth
Alameda County, California
Hometown
Oakland, Alameda County, California

Military service

Service number
19186214
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Top Turret Gunner
Unit
358th Bombardment Squadron,
303rd Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
unknown

Death

Status
Missing in Action
Date of death
21 June 1944
Place of death
Near the Schulzendorf rail station, Berlin-Heiligensee, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Antonio Paolino (father)
Rodolfo R. Paolino (brother)
Lilina Paolino (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-32037
Data
Type: B-17
Destination: Berlin, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the city
MACR: 6540

More information

S/Sgt Vincent C. Paolino volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in San Francisco, California on 28 November 1942.

He attended Oakland Technical High School in Oakland, California and college.

The airplane received four direct hits, twice in the nose and twice in the bomb bay just after bombs away. It broke formation and went down to the left and exploded. Five crew members were taken prisoner, four were killed.

The deceased men were initially buried at the POW Cemetery of Elsgrund-Döbertiz. In June 1951 an investigation was conducted to find several American deceased at the grounds where the POW Cemetery of Döbertiz was situated. The former caretaker, however, stated that the Americans exhumed their remains in 1947, in 1948 the French and in 1949 the Italians, Germans and Russians completely exhumed the cemetery. This was done systematically, field by field, row by row. In late 1949 the former cemetery site was returned to its German owner. In 1951 it was planted with potatoes. The conclusion of the investigation was that when the cemetery finally was disinterred all remains left, were evacuated to Russian or German Honor cemeteries and buried in unmarked graves.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, 303rd Bomb Group, www.fold3.com - MACR, IDPF of Herald R. Boyd, www.newspapers.com - Oakland Tribune

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Wendy Lensink, 303rd Bomb Group, www.ancestry.com - Oakland Technical High School Yearbook 1942