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Personal info

Full name
ROGERS, James Patterson
Date of birth
6 November 1916
Age
27
Place of birth
Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia
Hometown
Daviess County, Kentucky

Military service

Service number
O-429700
Rank
First Lieutenant
Function
Co-Pilot
Unit
858th Bombardment Squadron,
492nd Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
19 May 1944
Place of death
Spannhagen Street, Hannover, Germany
Hannover, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
B 43 14

Immediate family

Members
George J. Rogers (father)
Clara E. (West) Rogers (mother)
Elizabeth J. Rogers (sister)
John W. Rogers (sister)
Joanna J. Rogers (sister)
Elizabeth B. (Wingfield) Rogers (wife)

Plane data

Serial number
44-40133
Data
Type: B-24J
Nickname: Uninvited
Destination: Brunswick, Germany
MACR: 5245

More information

1st Lt James P. Rogers graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1939.

On 19 May 1944, Captain Lewis flew as lead ship of the B section on a bombing run over Brunswick, Germany. Casualty Report says that Lewis' crew was the fourth plane downed by a pass of about forty FW-190's. The crew's gunners said they saw the planes on each side of them get hit before they got nailed. Only three gunners were able to bail out and survive. The Germans buried the bodies at the local cemetery. After the war, all but two were brought back home.

The pictures were taken in college in 1936 and 1939.

Source of information: Terry Hirsch, 492ndBombGroup, 1930 US Census

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Washington and Lee University 1936, 1939