Memorial

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2nd Lt Halmyth C. Reese graduated from Albany High School in 1939 and attended Jones Junior College in Ennisville, Mississippi for two years. He took CAA training at Hardin-Simmons University.

He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in Lubbock, Texas, on 24 March 1942 and was sent overseas in September 1943.

The German report indicated that "Toid Boid" was shot down by heavy flak at 1444 hrs local time and crashed in the dunes near IJmuiden.

Statement from Sgt Robert C. Malarkey, Tail Gunner, A/C 787:
"While we were on the bomb run, I saw Lt. Reese's airplane on fire. The fire was coming from the roots of the wings and was streaming back to the tail. We turned, and I lost sight of it momentarily. The next time I saw it, it was spiraling steeply down. I saw it strike on the coast and explode. I did not see any chutes from the airplane."

The entire crew of six was killed. They were initially buried in IJmuiden in the cemetery at the Havenkade on 29 March 1944. After the war, they were evacuated to Margraten, where Sgt Scott, Lt Reese, and Sgt Sundberg got their final resting place. The remains of the other three crew members returned to the USA.

The crew of the Toid Boid was a new crew because the usual crew had a day off. The crew on this day was called the "Reese crew", concerning the following crew members: 2nd Lt Halmyth C. Reese (Pilot), William C. Berryman (Co Pilot), Sgt Paul R. Scott (Radio operator/ Waist gunner, Sgt Ralph R. Brown (Bombardier), S/Sgt Alex E. Sundberg (Armorer/Turret gunner, Sgt Donald L. Jacobs (Engineer/Tail gunner).

At the crash site, the crew is remembered on a monument.