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name
GRINDSTAFF, Earl T - Date of
birth
12 June 1920 -
Age
23 - Place of
birth
Willcox, Cochise County, Arizona -
Hometown
Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-667994 -
Rank
First Lieutenant -
Function
Co-Pilot -
Unit
455th Bombardment Squadron,
323rd Bombardment Group, Medium
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
13 December 1943 - Place of
death
North Sea, 20 km southwest of Zandvoort, the Netherlands
North Sea
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Jake S. Grindstaff (father)
Martha T. (Holiday) Grindstaff (mother)
Gracie Grindstaff (sister)
Alvin J. Grindstaff (brother)
Ruth (Carter) Grindstaff (wife)
Plane data
- Serial
number
41-34940 -
Data
Type: B-26C
Destination: Schiphol, The Netherlands
Mission: Bombing of the airfield
MACR: 1497
More information
Earl T. Grindstaff attended high school for four years and was a manager.He joined the Air Corps of the Regular Army on 18 April 1941 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
During the bombing run the formation met intense and accurate heavy flak. Immediately after the bomb release, the airplane was damaged. It peeled off to the left and began to go down rapidly, but still under control, towards the coast.
The entire crew of six men was killed. They are commemorated at the Walls of the Missing at Margraten, except S/Sgt Thomas J. Carpenter Jr, who is commemorated at the Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge Cemetery and Memorial.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.footnote.com - MACR, www.newspapers.com - San Antonio Light, www.ancestry.com - 1940 Census
Photo source: Peter Schouteten - www.fold3.com