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name
COZZA, Salvatore Eugene - Date of
birth
29 December 1921 -
Age
22 - Place of
birth
Somerville, Middlesex County, Massachusetts -
Hometown
Somerville, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
31299728 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
Tail Gunner -
Unit
735th Bombardment Squadron,
453rd Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
8 April 1944 - Place of
death
Salzwedel, 10 miles east of Henningen, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Salvatore Cozza (father)
Marie Cozza (mother)
Laurence Cozza (brother)
Victor Cozza (brother)
Norma Cozza (sister)
Marie Cozza (sister)
Francis Cozza (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-64453 -
Data
Type: B-24H
Destination: Brunswick, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the MIAG aviation industry
MACR: 3922
More information
S/Sgt Salvatore Cozza attended college and worked in an aircraft factory.He enlisted on 25 February 1943 in Boston, Massachussetts.
The airplane was attacked by enemy aircraft. The tail split off, close to the wing and the plane began to spin.
One crew member survived and was taken prisoner. The other nine crew members were killed and were initially buried at the cemetery of Henningen. After the war, when a grave registration unit tried to recover the remains at this cemetery, of those nine, the remains of two men were never found.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, U.S. Veterans' Gravesites, ca.1775-2006, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - 1930 Census, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.8thafhs.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, IDPF
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Leslie Cozza (niece)