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name
VAUGHAN, Clyde Allen - Date of
birth
13 April 1919 -
Age
24 - Place of
birth
Tulare County, California -
Hometown
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
20911620 -
Rank
Sergeant -
Function
Tail Gunner -
Unit
569th Bombardment Squadron,
390th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
11 January 1944 - Place of
death
Suttrup, southeast of Lingen, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| D | 10 | 44 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Harry C. Vaughan (father)
Ethel M. (Odom) Vaughan (mother)
George E. Vaughan (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-39879 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Braunschweig (Brunswick), Germany
Mission: Bombing, Assembly Plant
MACR: 2023
More information
Sgt Clyde A. Vaughan enlisted on 3 March 1941 in Pasadena, California.The plane was attacked from behind by two and eventually 4 enemy fighters. Sgt Clyde A. Vaughan first reported that his oxygen system was out after the attack. However, Sgt Clyde A. Vaughan was hit in the face and his upper body by 20 mm enemy shells. He died almost instantaneously. S/Sgt Richard O. Tobias, Left Waist Gunner, was the last one to see him in his lethal condition. Sgt Vaughan was found near the plane by a French priest who was a Prisoner of War and worked in a Hospital in Lingen, Germany. One of the Waist Gunners was wounded and had been brought to this hospital. Here the French priest told him he buried Sgt Vaughan at the Lingen cemetery, in a section for Prisoners of War, and knew his name by means of the dog tags.
All of the crew members bailed out, became Prisoners of War, and they met each other again in Le Havre, France, after their liberation.
Source of information: Cor van den Burg, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Newby and related family tree / California birth index / 1930 Census, www.fold3.com - MACR, (Individual) Casualty Questionnaires, Statements, www.8thafhs.com, WWII Draft Card
Photo source: Jac Engels