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name
FREEMAN, Charles Spencer - Date of
birth
17 January 1918 -
Age
26 - Place of
birth
Houston, Harris County, Texas -
Hometown
Galveston, Galveston County, Texas
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-685504 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Navigator -
Unit
533rd Bombardment Squadron,
381st Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
5 August 1944 - Place of
death
Jadebusen, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Henry W. Freeman (father)
Mary L. Crawford (mother)
Henry Freeman (brother)
Robert G. Freeman (brother)
Murrel (Combs) Freeman (wife)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-97771 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Nienburg/Weser, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the underground oil storage tanks
MACR: 7884
More information
2nd Lt Charles S. Freeman graduated from Ball High School and attended the University of Texas before joining the Air Corps in June 1942.The airplane was hit by flak and turned back to head for home. It immediateldy feathered one engine and dropped his bombs, losing altitude slowly.
Of the ten men crew, nine were able to bail out before the aircraft crashed. Five of these nine men were taken prisoner, the other four were killed.
Surviving crew member reports indicate that 2nd Lt Freeman was last seen in the navigators compartment, already dead, killed instantly by flak schrapnel.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.usaafdata.com, www.fold3.com - MACR 7884, WWII Draft Card, www.ancestry.com - 1920/1930 Census, http://www.usaafdata.com, The Austin American - 17 March 1945
Photo source: André Koch, Galveston Tribune 22 July 1943, Arie-Jan van Hees