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Personal info

Full name
WRIGHT, Richard Dee
Date of birth
11 September 1922
Age
21
Place of birth
Concord, Merrimack County, New Hampshire
Hometown
Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts

Military service

Service number
O-808209
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Navigator
Unit
367th Bombardment Squadron,
306th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Died of Wounds
Date of death
11 January 1944
Place of death
On the land of Mr. H.A. Bessembinder
Nieuw Heeten, community of Raalten, The Netherlands

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
H 7 5

Immediate family

Members
Campbell Wright (father)
Julia D. Wright (mother)
Jane C. Wright (sister)
Sheila L. Wright (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-31538
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Norah
Destination: Halberstadt, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Junkers aviation industry
MACR: 1932

More information

Richard D. Wright was an errand boy.

He joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve in Boston, Massachusetts on 19 May 1942.

The plane #42-31538 collided with plane #42-31236 after being attacked by a FW 190 of II/JG26.

The plane crashed on the land of Mr H A Bessembinder at Nieuw Heeten.

All crew members of both airplanes, twenty men in total, were killed.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - 1930 Census, www.fold3.com - MACR 1932, WWII Draft Card

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Ab en Yvonne Toonen