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name
DEARBORN, Gayle Williams - Date of
birth
14 December 1916 -
Age
27 - Place of
birth
Harmonsburg, Crawford County, Pennsylvania -
Hometown
Greeley, Weld County, Colorado
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-811577 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Navigator -
Unit
358th Bombardment Squadron,
303rd Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
22 February 1944 - Place of
death
Garzweiler, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| O | 18 | 6 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Ned H. Dearborn (father)
Enid Dearborn (mother)
Jeanne E. (Saye) Dearborn (wife)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-5052 -
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Mizpah
Destination: Aschersleben, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Junkers Flugzeugwerke - aviation industry
MACR: 2646
More information
2nd Lt Gayle W. Dearborn graduated from New York University in 1939 where his father was a dean. He worked at the faculty of the University of Colorado.He joined the the Air Corps of tha U.S. Army Reserve in Denver, Colorado on 16 May 1942
The airplane was attacked by enemy fighters. The no. 1 and no. 2 engines were alreday smoking after passing a flak area. It was last seen when it was descending under controle.
Five crew members survived and were taken prisoner, five were killed.
Lt Dearborn was initially buried at the Catholic cemetery of Grevenbroich.
A German interrogator told S/Sgt Nicholas J. Fizzani, one of the surviving crew members, that Lt Dearborn's parachute didn't open.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.303rdbg.com, www.ancestry.com - New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists / United States World War II Army Enlistment Records / 1940 Census
Photo source: Michel Beckers, Phi Gamma Delta - October 1944, www.303rdbg.com