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Personal info

Full name
SMITH, Charles Edgar
Date of birth
7 September 1921
Age
23
Place of birth
Lenoir City, Loudon County, Tennessee
Hometown
Baltimore County, Maryland

Military service

Service number
33376020
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Waist Gunner
Unit
615th Bombardment Squadron,
401st Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
16 February 1945
Place of death
Oberscholven, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
B 37 53

Immediate family

Members
Edgar A. Smith (father)
Anna B. Smith (mother)
Geneva P. Smith (sister)
William H. Smith (brother)
Rebecca I. Smith (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
44-2371
Data
Type: B-17G SH
Destination: Gelsenkrichen, Germany
MACR: 12445

More information

S/Sgt Charles E. Smith was employed at the U.S. Government Aberdeen Proving Grounds.

He enlisted on 17 September 1942 in Baltimore, Maryland.

The nose blew first, and it looked like the oxygen system was going. The plane dropped back, peeled to the left, broke in two at the waist, and then the wings fell off. The aircraft exploded in the air.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, WWII Draft Card, www.fold3.com, www.ancestry.com

Photo source: www.findagrave.com, Andy Swinnen