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name
HOUCK, James H - Date of
birth
31 October 1920 -
Age
22 -
Place of birth
Rockford, Surry County, North Carolina -
Hometown
Forsyth County, North Carolina -
Ethnicity
White
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-734691 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Bombardier -
Unit
532nd Bombardment Squadron,
381st Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
25 July 1943 - Place of
death
Baltic Sea, Lübecker Bocht, off the coast of Neustadt in Holstein, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Claude A. Houck Sr. (father)
Lucy (Hamlin) Houck (mother)
Mary E. Houck (sister)
Thomas H. Houck (brother)
Benjamin F. Houck (brother)
Claude A. Houck Jr. (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-30013 -
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Lethal Lady
Destination: Hamburg, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the diesel engine works
MACR: 130
More information
2nd Lt James H. Houck attended college and was an actor.He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United Stated as an aviation cadet in Jacksonville, Florida on 10 January 1942.
The primary target was the diesel engine works but due to cloud cover the Blohm & Voss Naval shipyard was bombed.
The airplane was hit by flak, just after passing over the target. It was believed that the flak knocked about a foot off of the left end of the left airleron, knocked off a part of the left horizonal stabilizer and the left wing tip was on fire. When last sighted, tha airplane was going down, straight ahead.
According to surviving crew members, he was killed at his station.
Six crew members were taken prisoner, four were killed.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, NARA, Missing Aircrew Report 130, www.ancestry.com
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, University of Florida Yearbook 1942.