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Personal info

Full name
TRINKO, Wesley P
Date of birth
7 July 1918
Age
25
Place of birth
Wisconsin
Hometown
Wilson, Dunn County, Wisconsin

Military service

Service number
16024326
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Ball Turret Gunner
Unit
743rd Bombardment Squadron,
455th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
2 April 1944
Place of death
Deutschlandsberg, Austria

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
K 42 36

Immediate family

Members
Sylvester F. Trinko (father)
Edith A. (Wheeler) Trinko (mother)
Donald A. Trinko (brother)
Doris Trinko (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-52224
Data
Type: B-24H
Destination: Steyr, Austria
Mission: Bombing of the ball bearing factory
MACR: 3363

More information

S/Sgt Wesley P. Trinko worked on a farm before he volunteered for the Air Corps of the U.S. Army in Wausau, Wisconsin on 27 January 1942.

Capt Beverly H. Brookshire:
"On April 2, 1944, at approximately 1145, shortly after passing st. Michael, I noticed Lt Cheesman’s ship number 224, B-24, was on fire. The waist compartment was burning and number 1 engine seemed to be on fire, but the ship was under control, losing altitude slowly. About four minutes later he turned on a heading of approximately 300 degrees and was finally lost from view. After the ship left the formation I saw four parachutes leave the ship."

2nd Lt Andrew F. Celovsky:
"Could have been killed in the destruction of the plane because without help he was unable to get out of that particular ball turret."

He is remembered at the Saint Joseph’s Cemetery in Menomonie, Dunn County, Wisconsin.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com – Doris Machacek, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1920/1940 Census, www.fold3.com, www.findagrave.com – Bill Hart, www.newspapers.com – Eau Claire Leader Wisconsin - 22 June 1944, http://aircrewremembered.com/USAAFCombatOperations/Apr.44.html

Photo source: www.newspapers.com – Eau Claire Leader Wisconsin - 29 June 1944, www.findagrave.com – Bill Hart