Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
HAMMONTREE, Eugene Lee - Date of
birth
29 June 1921 -
Age
23 - Place of
birth
Harrisonville, Cass County, Missouri -
Hometown
Grand River, Cass County, Missouri
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-698192 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Navigator -
Unit
816th Bombardment Squadron,
483rd Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
18 July 1944 - Place of
death
Near Memmingen, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| D | 7 | 20 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Tracil T. Hammontree (father)
Minerva O. (Kohntopp) Hammontree (mother)
Velma N. Hammontree (sister)
Harold D. Hammontree (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-107172 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Memmingen, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the airfield
MACR: 7153
More information
2nd Lt Eugene L. Hammontree attended college and worked on a farm before he volunteered for the Air Corps of the U.S. Army in Kansas City, Kansas, on 13 May 1942.Lt Col Willard S. Sperry:
“On 18 July 1944, the 483rd Bombardment Group went into the assigned target area without fighter escort or other group support. As the initial point was approached, approximately seventy-five enemy fighters swept by the group formation on the right, making a wide turn at the rear in preparation for a tail attack. Three B-17s were shot to pieces while in level flight and while maintaining their positions in formation. A fourth went down, apparently shot out of control, and broke apart as soon as the ship went into a spin.”
T/Sgt Wright W. McGee:
“He must have been wounded and couldn’t get out of plane.”
He is remembered at the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery in Harrisonville, Cass County, Missouri.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1940 Census, www.fold3.com, www.findagrave.com – Susan Norine Stice, http://aircrewremembered.com/USAAFCombatOperations/Jul.44.html
Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Sharon Wallen, Arie-Jan van Hees, Navigator Class book 43-16 San Marcos, Texas.