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Submit- Full
name
DREW, Richard - Date of
birth
1923 -
Age
unknown - Place of
birth
California -
Hometown
Los Angeles County, California
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-774064 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Pilot -
Unit
23rd Fighter Squadron,
36th Fighter Group
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Finding of Death - Date of
death
18 October 1944 - Place of
death
North of Lampertheim, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| A | 8 | 58 |
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-74677 -
Data
Type: P-47D
Nickname: Easy Angels
Destination: Marburg, Germany
Mission: Weather reconnaissance
MACR: 9653
More information
2nd Lt Richard Drew joined the Regular Army in Los Angeles, California on 8 October 1942.1st Lt Clint E. Pardridge:
"On 18 October 1944 I was leading a flight of four P47 type airplanes on a Weather Reconnaissance mission to the area of Marburg, Germany. At approximately 1100 hours we were at an altitude of 2,000 feet starting up through the overcast. At about 4,000 feet Lt. Richard Drew, who was flying my wing, began to get shaky and his airplane jumped around in formation. A few seconds later he barely missed running into my airplane and as I last saw him he swung wide to the left and it looked as though he was straightening out but he disappeared in the overcast. I immediately called him on the radio giving the course but there was no acknowledgement from him. The leader of the second element of the formation, Lt. James C. Coe, and I broke out of the overcast at 6,000 feet and made a circle to try to pick him up and we didn’t see him from the overcast. Flak became quite accurate and we left the area."
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.fold3.com
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Denise Kellam / I Pepperman