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Personal info

Full name
LE BOEUF, John Michael Joseph
Date of birth
22 October 1923
Age
21
Place of birth
Gary, Lake County, Indiana
Hometown
West Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana

Military service

Service number
O-707943
Rank
First Lieutenant
Function
Navigator
Unit
Headquarters,
387th Bombardment Group, Medium
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 6 Oak Leaf Clusters

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
2 March 1945
Place of death
Dutenhofen near Wetzlar, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
B 31 6

Immediate family

Members
Oscar Le Boeuf (father)
Wilma M. (Grase) Le Boeuf (mother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-95933
Data
Type: B-26B
Destination: Giesen, Germany
Mission: Bombing of an ordnance depot
MACR: 12838

More information

John M.J. Le Boeuf graduated from Horrace Mann High School and attended college.

He joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve in La Fayette, Indiana on 12 November 1942.

Several crews of the Group reported that the Pathfinder aircraft was attacked by enemy aircraft in the vicinity of the primary target (Giessen). The left engine was on fire after the attack but the fire was believed to have gone out although the engine continued to smoke. Three crews believe the aircraft was escorted by two P-38's to the bomb line where last seen. Another crew reports that the aircraft was losing altitude rapidly and was very low when last seen.

All crew members bailed out when the left engine was lost. Four crew members where taken prisoner.

Robert H. Folsom, Wendell L. Hoenshel and Henry M. Isenberg also parachuted to safety but were beaten and then shot by three Germans. One was a policeman by the name of Engel. The two other where civilians, names Otto Lechens and William Lang. They were initially buried at a cemetery in Langgöns, Germany.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com – Headstone and Interment Record / Indiana Birth Certificates 1907-1940 / Horace Man High School Yearbook 1940, www.fold3.com - MACR

Photo source: Jac Engels, Horace Man High School Yearbook 1940