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Personal info

Full name
LA ROCK, James Stanton
Date of birth
7 June 1915
Age
27
Place of birth
Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri
Hometown
Los Angeles County, California

Military service

Service number
O-729634
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Navigator
Unit
327th Bombardment Squadron,
91st Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Missing in Action
Date of death
4 March 1943
Place of death
Wadden Sea, south of Texel Island, The Netherlands

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
B 28 5

Immediate family

Members
Barney La Rock (father)
Adele L. (Bryan) La Rock (mother)
Alice La Rock (sister)
George M. La Rock (brother)
Joan La Rock (sister)
Frank E. La Rock (brother)
Adele L. La Rock (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-5370
Data
Type: B-17F
Destination: Hamm, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the marshalling yard
MACR: 16102

More information

2nd Lt La Rock's mother died young and he and his siblings were parceled out to various relatives. James and his brother Frank ended up staying with his aunt Alice (Bryan) Dailey and moved with her to California. They both ended up enlisting in the US Army Air Corps. Frank survived the war and returned home but according to his family never was the same again and suffered of PTSD.

2nd Lt James S. La Rock was as an electrotyper.

He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in Los Angeles, California on 17 December 1941.

The airplane was shot down by Hptm Lutje of IV/NJG1. Nine crew members were killed, one survived and was taken prisoner.

Lt La Rock's remains washed ashore on a sandbank called "Koffieboonplaat" between the islands Ameland and Terschelling on 24 May 1943.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, MACR, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / Family Tree, WWII Draft Card

Photo source: Jac Engels, John F. Durboraw