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Personal info

Full name
SERROS, Jerome Chris
Date of birth
4 October 1919
Age
25
Place of birth
Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia
Hometown
Orlando, Orange County, Florida

Military service

Service number
O-660688
Rank
Captain
Function
Pilot
Unit
55th Fighter Squadron,
20th Fighter Group
Awards
Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster,
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
2 November 1944
Place of death
Andrup, Hasselünne, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
B 41 2

Immediate family

Members
Nicholas Serros (father)
Antoinette Serros (mother)
Andrew Serros (brother)
Robert Serros (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
44-13838
Data
Type: P-51D-5NA
Nickname: Okie Blokie
Destination: Merseburg, Germany
Mission: Bomber Escort
MACR: 10234

More information

Capt Serros attended college and was an actor.

He joined the Air Corps of the Regular Army as an aviation cadet at MacDill Field, Florida, on 31 October 1941. He was a 1942 graduate of The Citadel.

Excerpt from MACR 10234:
"The plane suffered mechanical failure and bailed out east of the Zuiderzee. He said on r/t he was turning back to base. He made the turn and then almost immediately started spinning. No chute seen, but his altitude gave ample time to bail out."

According to records on the Little Friends (fighter escorts) website, Capt. Serros' Mustang was nicknamed "Stubborn Virgin" and not "Okie Blokie." Most likely, he was assigned "Okie Blokie" on the day of his death due to his aircraft being down for maintenance. Also, their records show that Captain Serros had flown P-38J Lightning 42-67756 KI-B nicknamed "Stubborn Virgin" before the squadron transitioned to the P-51 Mustang.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Michel Beckers, Astrid van Erp, Mart Janssen, Terry Hirsch, MACR 10234, 20th Fighter Group, www.ancestry.com - 1920/1930/1940 Census US / U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, http://thecitadelmemorialeurope.wordpress.com - Attended the Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina located in Charleston. Member of the Class of 1941, LittleFriends.co.uk

Photo source: www.citadel.edu, Roger Long