Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
FEUERSTACKE, James Andrew "Andy" - Date of
birth
15 October 1920 -
Age
22 - Place of
birth
Jackson, Madison County, Tennessee -
Hometown
Jackson, Madison County, Tennessee
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-795928 -
Rank
First Lieutenant -
Function
Pilot -
Unit
579th Bombardment Squadron,
392nd Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Finding of Death - Date of
death
4 October 1943 - Place of
death
North Sea, 60 miles north of the West-Frisian Islands
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
James A. Feuerstacke (father)
Lurline M. (Sweeney) Feuerstacke (mother)
Frances C. Feuerstacke (sister)
Billy Feuerstacke (sister)
Joseph J. Feuerstacke (brother)
Jane E. (Pomeroy) Feuerstacke (wife)
Michael A. Feuerstacke (son)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-7481 -
Data
Type: B-24H
Nickname: Whiskers
Destination: Frisian Islands
Mission: Diversion
MACR: 892
More information
1st Lt James A. Feuerstacke graduated from Jackson High Schoolwhere he played football. He was employed as a salesman at Frankland's.He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United Stated in Montgomery, Alabama on 17 March 1942. He took his training with the 68th Flying Training Detachment, Kenneth D. McKellar Airport, Greenville Air Base and received his commission at Marianna, Florida.
The mission's objective was to deconcentrate German defenses, primarily fighter units, and draw them away from the main bomber routes across the continent.
The aircraft was last observed with at least one and possibly both wings torn off after a collision with an enemy fighter which had been badly damaged. The collision was followed by a violent explosion at about 10,000 feet of. No parachutes were observed as the aircraft disappeared into the clouds at 1026 hours.
It is also believed that, according to eyewitness statements, during the incident the aircraft also collided with another B-24 (42-7471) as it fell out of formation.
The entire crew of eleven men was killed. Nine are remembered at the Walls of the Missing at Margraten. Michael Kvorjak and Carey Bratcher are remembered at the Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge Cemetery.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.B24.net, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.footnote.com, www.ancestry.com - Feuerstackes Family Tree / 1930 Census, www.newspapers.com - The Tennessean / The Jackson Sun
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.b24.net, www.newspapers.com - The Jackson Sun