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name
RUCKER, Richard Wayne - Date of
birth
15 August 1922 -
Age
21 - Place of
birth
Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana -
Hometown
Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
15329354 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
Right Waist Gunner -
Unit
337th Bombardment Squadron,
96th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
16 December 1943 - Place of
death
North Sea, about 6 miles of Texel, the Netherlands
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Elmer L. Rucker (father)
Mary W. (Ulmer) Rucker (mother)
Louis R. Arthur (stepbrother)
Ruth Rucker (sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-30860 -
Data
Type: B-17F
Destination: Bremen, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the port area
MACR: 1563
More information
S/Sgt Richard W. Rucker was an inspector.He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States at Camp Perry, Lacarne, Ohio on 17 October 1942.
While under fighter attack, witnesses saw the aircraft explode and while going down, colliding with aircraft 42-3265. The entire crew was killed.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten,www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - 1930 Census / Family Tree, www.archives.gov
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Patrick Ruyter, www.ancestry.com - Mrs. Lisa Edwards