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Personal info

Full name
ABRAHAM, Marshall Thomas
Date of birth
25 October 1921
Age
22
Place of birth
New Castle, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania
Hometown
New Castle, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania

Military service

Service number
13057360
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Radio Operator
Unit
613th Bombardment Squadron,
401st Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
8 May 1944
Place of death
Dümmer Lake, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
M 16 7

Immediate family

Members
Samuel Abraham (father)
Jennie Abraham (mother)
Julia Abraham (sister)
Abe Abraham (brother)
Samuel Abraham Jr. (brother)
Loreen Abraham (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-30855
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Ol Massa
Destination: Berlin, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the city
MACR: 4586

More information

S/Sgt Marshall T. Abraham attended high school for four years.

He volunteered for the Army of the United States in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 28 January 1942.

According to witnesses, the plane was hit by a flak burst just outside the waist window or in the plane itself. The bottom part blew off. The tail section went one way and the frontal section another.

Statement from Edward J. Rice, Left Waist Gunner:
"About 100 miles from Holland it happens. A loud, hard, explosion toward the front of our plane. The plane was flying level as die, but the whole tail was gone. Just a great big hole looking out at the sky. The blast blew everything toward the front of the plane, the plane can't fly this way. I ran straight out into space thru the open fuselage, the plane was diving straight down. It nosed into the ground and exploded, fire and smoke shot skyward."

According to 1st Lt Cyrus P. Bennett, the Germans told him there were eight bodies in the wreckage. They were initially all buried at the cemetery of Achmer, Germany.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, http://www.remember-our-heroes.nl/abraham.htm, www.ancestry.com - Veteran Compensation Application File

Photo source: Nico Leers, Andy Swinnen, www.ancestry.com - Kerri Daley