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name
MASON, Jack Leonard - Date of
birth
25 December 1921 -
Age
21 - Place of
birth
Wadsworth, Medina County, Ohio -
Hometown
Wadsworth, Medina County, Ohio
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
35393685 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
Right Waist Gunner -
Unit
546th Bombardment Squadron,
384th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
28 July 1943 - Place of
death
Kortwoude, the Netherlands
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| O | 9 | 6 |
Immediate family
-
Members
John A. Mason (father)
Alice (Hornoff) Mason (mother)
Unban Kunkler (uncle)
Amanda Kunkler (aunt)
Robert Mason (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-30032 -
Data
Type:B-17F
Nickname: Sky Queen
Destination: Kassel, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the aircraft industry
MACR: 15165
More information
Jack Mason was an orphan who had always lived with the Kunklers. His mother died in 1923 and his father in 1925.He graduated from Wadsworth High School and was employed at the Babcock and Wilcox Company in Barberton.
He graduated from gunnery school in Las Vegas, Nevada, in November 1942 and had been on overseas duty for only six weeks.
His aunt received his last letter on 25 July 1943, in which he told her "not to worry" as he was having a fine time "seeing the sights of London".
A brother, Lt Robert Mason, served with the coast artillery in Trinidad.
The airplane was attacked by enemy fighters, causing the #3 engine to start burning. The pilot made a dive, probably to extinguish the fire, but after leveling off, it blew up in mid-air.
This B-17 had a crew of eleven men because there was an observer on board. Nine crew members were killed, and two men were taken prisoner.
The crew was on its seventh mission.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.basher82.nl, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.newspapers.com - The Akron Beacon Journal
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.basher82.nl, www.newspapers.com - The Akron Beacon Journal, www.ancestry.com - Wadsworth High School Yearbook 1939