Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
TERHUNE, William Albert - Date of
birth
31 March 1914 -
Age
29 - Place of
birth
Cope, Morgan County, Indiana -
Hometown
Kirklin, Clinton County, Indiana
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
35041062 -
Rank
Technical Sergeant -
Function
Radio Operator/Gunner -
Unit
452nd Bombardment Squadron,
322nd Bombardment Group, Medium
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
23 November 1943 - Place of
death
Blendecques, France
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| C | 13 | 40 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Albert F. Terhune (father)
Ethel J. (Proffet) Terhune (mother)
Helen L. Carlisle (fiancee)
Plane data
- Serial
number
41-31817 -
Data
Type: B-26
Destination: Saint-Omer/Longuenesse
Mission: Bombing of the airfield
MACR: 1187
More information
William Terhune was a mechanic.He enlisted at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana on 6 March 1942.
According to F/O William D. Petars, who was the co-pilot of another B-26 in the same group, this airplane burst into flames right after the bombs were released. When it passed beneath their own airplane, it was a mass of flames. It went into a flat spin, one wing broke off, and it began to roll, and halfway to the ground, it appeared to break into sections.
The entire crew of six men was killed.
T/Sgt William A. Terhune was first buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery of St. André, France.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com, www.ancestry.com - U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, http://francecrashes39-45.net
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.findagrave.com - Dwight Needens