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Personal info

Full name
WANGSNESS, Donald Clarence Jr
Date of birth
14 April 1924
Age
20
Place of birth
Calmar, Winneshiek County, Iowa
Hometown
Davison County, South Dakota

Military service

Service number
T-004247
Rank
Flight Officer
Function
Co-Pilot
Unit
352nd Bombardment Squadron,
301st Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
4 March 1945
Place of death
Gratkorn, Austria

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
K 42 34

Immediate family

Members
Donald C. Wangsness (father)
Mary I. (Anderson) Wangsness (mother)

Plane data

Serial number
44-6351
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Bruck an der Mur, Austria
Mission: Bombing of the marshalling yard
MACR: 12903

More information

F/O Donald C. Wangsness Jr. attended high school for 4 years and was a general industry clerk before he enlisted in Los Angeles, California on 26 January 1943.

The aircraft was hit by flak at the beginning of the bomb run and caught fire in the bomb bay and the radio room. It went out of formation, went into a dive and broke in half.

Five crew members survived and were taken prisoner, five were killed. Their remaines were found in Gratkorn, Austria.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / Severson Family Tree, www.fold3.com, https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=196896 / https://catalog.archives.gov/id/18238601 - page 280
Photo source: www.ancestry.com - Jutaylor / Sammy Swaim