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Personal info

Full name
BALLOU, William O
Date of birth
8 March 1913
Age
32
Place of birth
Idaho
Hometown
La Plata County, Colorado

Military service

Service number
39929579
Rank
Sergeant
Function
Waist Gunner
Unit
335th Bombardment Squadron,
95th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
6 April 1945
Place of death
Foret de Soignes, Belgium

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
D 32 21

Immediate family

Members
Bruce Ballou (father)
Julia Ballou (mother)
Catherine Ballou (sister)
Margaret Ballou (sister)
Clinton Ballou (brother)
John Ballou (brother)
Alice Ballou (wife)
Bruce Ballou (son)

Plane data

Serial number
42-107204
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Goin My Way
Destination: Leipzig, Germany
MACR: 15598

More information

The crew was probably trying to reach one of the allied airfields around Brussels. Flying low, they must have missed the vastness of the Sonian Forrest as the first row of trees is much higher than the forrest behind it. Flying over the forrest they must have decided to turn back, but flying low, the wingtip hit the tree tops and the plane cartwheeled before hitting the biggest tree in the vicinity and disintegrating, killed all 9 crewmembers.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Jürgen Nijs, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - 1920 Census, http://www.cfmf.net/honoree.aspx?id=3321

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, http://www.cfmf.net/honoree.aspx?id=3321, The Idaho Statesman - 26 April 1945