Missing information?

Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?

Submit

Personal info

Full name
MEZZETTI, Peter A
Date of birth
1921
Age
unknown
Place of birth
New Jersey
Hometown
Mercer County, New Jersey

Military service

Service number
12034349
Rank
Sergeant
Function
Tail Turret Gunner
Unit
712th Bombardment Squadron,
448th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Finding of Death
Date of death
11 September 1944
Place of death
Near Bonn, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
E 14 13

Immediate family

Members
Annibali Mezzetti (father)
Adele Mezzetti (mother)
Palmira Mezzetti (sister)
Mamie Mezzetti (sister)
Paul Mezzetti (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
44-10505
Data
Type: B-24J
Nickname: Gung Ho
Destination: Magdeburg, Germany
Mission: Bombing
MACR: 8926

More information

Sgt Peter A. Mezzetti enlisted in Trenton, New Jersey on 12 December 1941.

The plane was badly damaged by flak in the area of Bonn, Germany, near the Rhine River. Engines were on fire, and all controls shot away, so the command to bail out was given. When next heard of the men, the right waist gunner had a leg blown off from the hip, the bombardier was wounded in the face and the neck. The co-pilot was wounded in the knee; the pilot was safe, having been blown 8,000 feet when the plane exploded; the nose gunner and navigator were killed. The navigator and nose gunner reported their wounds over the interphone. It is believed that Sgt Mezzetti didn't bail out and went down with the ship. S/Sgt Martin last saw him still in the tail turret prior to bailing out.

Source of information: www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Census, www.fold3.com - MACR

Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Des Philippet / Trenton Evening Times - 19 May 1940