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Personal info

Full name
GORIS, George E Jr
Date of birth
22 August 1923
Age
20
Place of birth
Indiana
Hometown
Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana

Military service

Service number
O-736508
Rank
First Lieutenant
Function
Pilot
Unit
368th Bombardment Squadron,
306th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Missing in Action
Date of death
3 November 1943
Place of death
North Sea, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
George E. Goris (father)
Lillian D. (Brunner) Pettit (mother)
Marylin M. (Wrightsman) Goris (wife)

Plane data

Serial number
42-30776
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Lady Marylin
Destination: Wilhelmshaven
Mission: Bombing of the U-boat yards
MACR: 1158

More information

George Grois graduated from Jefferson High School and was employed at the Fairfield plant.

He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in La Fayette, Indiana on 16 March 1942. He was commisioned on 4 January 1943 at La Junta Air Field, Colorado and had been in England since 20 July 1943.

On 24 April 1942 he was married to Miss Wrightsman.

In a letter to his wife, written October 26, he wrote that he had been on 12 raids, had been in a rest home, and was ready for the next mission. His B-17 was named "Lady Marilyn" in honor of his bride.

The airplane collided in mid-air with B-17 #42-3533. All crew members of both planes, twenty men in total, were killed.

He is remembered at the Rest Haven Memorial Park in Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana.

Source of information: Raf dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com, www.fold3.com, www.newspapers.com - Lafayette Journal and Courier

Photo source: Ruth Kay - www.findagrave.com, Peter Schouteten, Stefan Warnier, www.newspapers.com - Journal and Courier, Arie-Jan van Hees - PIlot 43-A Gibbs Field Texas