Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
KOON, Curtis L - Date of
birth
21 September 1920 -
Age
23 - Place of
birth
Trafford, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania -
Hometown
Johnstown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
33252697 -
Rank
Technical Sergeant -
Function
Engineer/Top Turret Gunner -
Unit
714th Bombardment Squadron,
448th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
22 December 1943 - Place of
death
In the vicinity of the Frisian Islands, North Sea
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Thair G. Koon (father)
Mabel A. (Woods) Koon (mother)
James T. Koon (brother)
Thair G. Koon (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
41-28609 -
Data
Type: B-24H
Destination: Osnabrück, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the marshalling yards
MACR: 2442
More information
Curtis Koon graduated from Ferndale High School in Johnstown.He enlisted in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on 10 September 1942.
The airplane was shot down on the return flight at approximately 5:00 PM by Hauptmann Peter Jenne of JG 26/I, and exploded in midair.
Two crew members managed to bail out and were taken prisoner; eight were killed. Seven are remembered on the Walls of the Missing at Margraten, Sgt Homer C. Risner is remembered on the Walls of the Missing at the American Military Cemetery and Memorial of Cambridge, England.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - Family Tree / 1940 Census / Veteran Compensation Application File
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.ancestry.com - Ferndale Junior-Senior High School Yearbook 1940