Memorial

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T/Sgt Roy E. Jr Rightmire was a painter in construction and maintenance before he joined the Regular Army in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on 14 July 1941.

Statement by T/Sgt Frank D. Dean, waist gunner on the aircraft:
"Bomb run had been made over Munster, Germany. Aircraft had been crippled by flak and shot down by enemy fighter about fifteen minutes later while flying northeast."
All men on board the ship bailed out prior to the crash.

Statements by surviving crew members indicate that Sgt Rightmire was found lying on the platform of the top turret, prior to the crew bailing out. No signs of blood were found on him, and it is assumed that he was out or dead from lack of oxygen. The pilot dragged him to the escape hatch and, with the help of the navigator, dropped him from the plane, at the same time releasing his chute. According to German interrogation officers Sgt Rightmire was found dead on the ground and buried. All other crew members survived and were made POWs.

Together with other casualties of several crashes in the area that day, T/Sgt Rightmire was first buried at Haaksbergen in grave 22 on 13 October 1943.