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Personal info

Full name
MORAN, Eugene Mathew
Date of birth
22 February 1917
Age
27
Place of birth
Monroe County, New York
Hometown
Hilton, Monroe County, New York

Military service

Service number
32471777
Rank
Private
Function
unknown
Unit
B Company,
1st Battalion,
327th Glider Infantry Regiment,
101st Airborne Division
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
19 September 1944
Place of death
Kruishoutem, Belgium

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
A 24 19

Immediate family

Members
William R. Moran (father)
Daisy (Kenyon) Moran (mother)
William S. Moran (brother)
Emma M. (Reed) Moran (wife)
William E. Moran (son)
Lloyd A. Moran (son)

Plane data

Serial number
unknown
Data
unknown

More information

Pvt Eugene M. Moran enlisted on 15 September 1942 in Rochester, New York.

He was on board of the CG-AA Waco Glider, serialnumber 43-19797 with destination landing Zone W near Best in The Netherlands.

Due to bad weather in the vicinity of Ghent several tow planes and gliders encountered navigation problems.

The glider piloted by F/O Fry was released from the tow plane for an unknown reason, dropped down, hit some tree tops and crashed in a field. All fifteen passengers and the pilot were killed. On 20 September 1944, they were all buried at the municipal cemetery of Kruishoutem. At that time, Kruishoutem was already liberated.

Following statement is from Capt John W. Gallager, the pilot of the tow plane:
"I was towing F/O Fry and was flying the number three position in a four ship element. I lost the formation over the sea about four minutes before I reached the Belgium coast. Due to instrument weather I went down and crossed the coast under the weather at an altitude of about 200 feet. When we reached a point about 6 miles from Ghent, Belgium, the visibility got so low we could just see the glider from the tow ship so I decided to try climbing up through the altitude of about 500 feet the glider pulled our tail down and left. Then it straightened up again for about 30 seconds. He then started having more trouble and either cut loose or the rope broke. We made a search of the area but found no trace of the glider. During this search we found an R.A.F. Field so we landed and reported the position of the glider as near as we could."

His brother Pfc William S. Moran is buried at Henri-Chapelle.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - Family Trees

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Monty McDaniel, Rochester Democrat Chronicle.