Memorial

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Sgt Richard R. Douglass, Jr. graduated from Messick High School and attended Memphis State College. He had been employed at Fischer Memphis Aircraft Division.

He joined the Army in Memphis, Tennessee, on 25 September 1942.

T/Sgt Charles J. McGinn: "I was the left waist gunner of ship flying number four position during bombing run over Munich, Germany, on 13 June 1944 at 24,000 feet. Ship number 42-78118, piloted by 2nd Lt Donald L. Amenson was flying number three position off our left wing. At approximately 1030 hours, when halfway through target run, ship number 42-78118 peeled off and went into a normal glide, at the same time salvoeing it’s bombs. I saw seven chutes in all, three opened in two to five seconds after leaving the ship, and about thirty seconds later four more opened. The ship then went into a steep glide, making a wide circle ending in a diving spin. At that moment three enemy fighter planes off our left wing diverted my attention from the crippled ship, and I did not see any more parachutes, and did not see the ship again."

He may have been wounded as we received hits in the tail section. He did not bail out.

Sgt Douglass is remembered at the Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee.