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Personal info

Full name
NOSTIN, John
Date of birth
4 January 1918
Age
27
Place of birth
New Britain, Hartford County, Connecticut
Hometown
New Britain, Hartford County, Connecticut

Military service

Service number
31042725
Rank
Sergeant
Function
Tail Gunner
Unit
550th Bombardment Squadron,
385th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
2 March 1945
Place of death
Near Fichtenberg-Mühlberg, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
Tablets of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Nicholas Nostin (father)
Catherine (Kaetyk) Nostin (mother)
Mary Nostin (sister)
Andrew Nostin (brother)
Anna Nostin (sister)
Michael A. Nostin (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
44-8417
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Dresden, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the marshalling yards
MACR: 12858

More information

John Nostin enlisted in Hartford, Connecticut on 24 March 1941.

The aircraft was hit by enemy aircraft cannon fire, fell back of the formation, and blew up almost immediately.

Eight crew members survived and were taken prisoner; Sgt Nostin was the only casualty. After the surviving crew members were captured and taken to a nearby town, the body of Sgt Nostin arrived in a truck. One crew member asked if he could examine the body. He couldn't find any visible wounds, but he looked as if he had been dragged across the ground and hit something, and had broken his neck. The wind at surface level that day was about fifty miles per hour, and all crew members had trouble collapsing their parachutes. His conclusion was that Sgt Nostin must have been caught by this wind while still attached to his parachute. He was initially buried at the military cemetery of Zeithain, Germany.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Carla Mans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com - MACR / WWII Draft Card, www.ancestry.com - Family Trees

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.ancestry.com - John Nostin