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Personal info

Full name
CHOUINARD, Merton Louis
Date of birth
26 August 1923
Age
21
Place of birth
Fitchburg, Worcester County, Massachusetts
Hometown
Hopkinton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Military service

Service number
O-716355
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Navigator
Unit
567th Bombardment Squadron,
389th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
28 September 1944
Place of death
8 km west of Boppard, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
J 9 4

Immediate family

Members
Louis J. Chouinard (father)
Ruth G. (Lougee) Chouinard (mother)
Lois E. Chouinard (sister)
Donald E. Chouinard (brother)
Arlene H. Chouinard (sister)
Muriel R. Chouinard (sister)
Phyllis Chouinard (sister)
Louis H. Chouinard (brother)
Irving P. Chouinard (brother)
Ellis L. Chouinard (brother)
Clifford B. Chouinard (brother)
Richard Chouinard (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-95071
Data
Type: B-24H
Nickname: Pot Luck
Destination: Kassel, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Henschel motor transport plant
MACR: 9381

More information

Merton Chouinard attended Massachusetts Agricultural College in Amherst.

He volunteered for the Army of the United States at fort Devens, Massachusetts on 18 March 1943.

The airplane was hit by flak approximately seven miles east of Koblenz. No. 3 engine caught on fire and spread to No. 4 and eventually enveloped the entire wing. It fell out of formation going into a tight spin and disappeared into the clouds at 14,000-15,000 feet. Te wing was seen to have fallen off from No. 4 engine.

Five crew members survived and were taken prisoner, five were killed.

According to witnesses, Lt Chouinard and another crew member parachuted from the airplane and their remains were found near the cemetery of Boppard. The airplane crashed four kilometers southeast of Bucholtz-Boppard.

Lt Chouinard was initially buried at the civilian cemetery of Boppard on 2 October 1944. They were disinterred by the 6892th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company and initially reburied at Margraten as Unknown X-2370.

He was identified through comparaison of tooth charts, clothing, estimated date of death, place of initial burial and cemetery records.

He was given his final resting place at Margraten on 14 February 1949.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans, www.389thbg.net, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Family Trees, IDPF

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Joe Murphy, www.ancestry.com - Massachusetts Agricultural College Yearbook 1946