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Personal info

Full name
WHEELER, Jimmie Douglas
Date of birth
30 November 1920
Age
24
Place of birth
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan
Hometown
Wayne County, Michigan
Ethnicity
African American

Military service

Service number
O-828059
Rank
First Lieutenant
Function
Pilot
Unit
99th Fighter Squadron,
332nd Fighter Group
Awards
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
16 March 1945
Place of death
Mühldorf am Inn, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
A 21 58

Immediate family

Members
Sadie (Tholes) Wheeler (mother)
Mary V. Wheeler (wife)

Plane data

Serial number
43-24820
Data
Type: P-51B
Nickname: Jenny
Destination: Munich-Regensburg, Germany
Mission: Strafing targets of opportunity
MACR: 13060

More information

1st Lt Jimmie D. Wheeler attended college and was a machinist before he joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve in Detroit, Michigan, on 30 September 1942.

2nd Lt Hugh J. White:
“On an assigned strafing in the area of Mühldorf am Inn, Germany, at 1320 hours, Lt Jimmie Wheeler flying subsoil aircraft number A-73, made a pass at a locomotive which he destroyed. In his attempt to pull away, he cleared the train, but his left wing struck a tree, leaving him out of control of the aircraft and to crash nearby. I was his wingman on the said pass.”

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record, www.fold3.com, www.findagrave.com

Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Darryl Shirley