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name
GILBERTSON, Willard Gust - Date of
birth
9 May 1917 -
Age
27 - Place of
birth
Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah -
Hometown
Ruth, White Pine County, Nevada
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
39905691 -
Rank
Technical Sergeant -
Function
Engineer/Top Turret Gunner -
Unit
533rd Bombardment Squadron,
381st Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
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
Gustave T. Gilbertson (father)
Gulborg E. (Johanson) Gilbertson (mother)
Eleanore H. Gilbertson (sister)
Gladys L. Gilbertson (sister)
Earline Gilbertson (brother)
Opal (Hatton) Gilbertson (wife)
Marilyn Gilbertson (daughter)
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
Willard G. Gilbertson graduated from White Pine County High School in 1936 and worked for the Consolidated Copper Corp.He enlisted at Salt Lake City in Utah on 29 December 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 members reported that T/Sgt Gilbertson was able to bail out, despite being wounded in the arm and shoulder. It is presumed he drowned, as his wounds must have hindered him swimming.
The picture was taken in high school in 1936.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.usaafdata.com, www.fold3.com - MACR / WWII Draft Card, www.ancestry.com - Family Trees, www.newspapers.com - Reno Evening Gazette
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Fred Munckhof, White Pine County High School yearbook, 1936