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Personal info

Full name
MC NEELY, Donald J
Date of birth
26 June 1921
Age
23
Place of birth
Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Hometown
Cuyahoga County, Ohio

Military service

Service number
O-712868
Rank
First Lieutenant
Function
Navigator
Unit
752nd Bombardment Squadron,
458th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
24 December 1944
Place of death
St. Vith, Belgium

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
Plot Row Grave
F 13 7

Immediate family

Members
William G. Mc Neely (father)
Lucy (Lodrick) Mc Neely (mother)
Clarice A. Mc Neely (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-109812
Data
Type: B-24H
Destination: Schonecken, Germany
Mission: Support of U.S. forces in the Ardennes
MACR: 11121

More information

1st Lt Donald J. Mc Neely graduated from Cuyahoga Heights High School in 1939 where he served as the Senior Class President.

The fatally-stricken big Liberator eased lazily into a right turn. We could see the squadron letters, 7V, painted boldly on the left side of the fuselage. As Giesen's ship swung more and more to the right, the turn tightened until it was a downward spiral, a tight spin and with the tail section gone, Giesen had no control whatever. I could picture him in the cockpit, terrified, pulling with all his might to move elevators that were no longer there, stamping wildly on rudder pedals that did nothing.
I looked anxiously for hatches to open, for crewmen to leap out, for the bomb bay to spill forth escaping people. There was nothing – no sign of anyone bailing out.
Ten, fifteen, twenty turns Giesen's ship went, down and down into the snow and trees of the Ardennes Forest. I watched until it hit the ground, five miles down, and exploded in a vast ball of fire. Charlie Giesen had been shot down in a gruesome fulfillment of his own prediction.

1st Lt Donald J. Mc Neeley was first buried at Temporary American Military Cemetery Foy, Belgium.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.abmc.gov, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1930 Census, https://sites.google.com - Cuyahoga Hts Ohio Historical Committee

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, http://www.458bg.com, www.findagrave.com - Patti Johnson, https://sites.google.com - Cuyahoga Hts Ohio Historical Committee