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Personal info

Full name
BLANCHARD, Theodore Arthur
Date of birth
2 March 1920
Age
23
Place of birth
Winooski, Chittenden County, Vermont
Hometown
Winooski, Chittenden County, Vermont

Military service

Service number
11038400
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Waist Gunner
Unit
409th Bombardment Squadron,
93rd Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Finding of Death
Date of death
22 December 1943
Place of death
IJsselmeer, 15 km. northeast of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Joseph A. Blanchard (father)
Elisabeth (Gamelin) Blanchard (mother)
Arthur Blanchard (brother)
Leo Blanchard (brother)
Maurice Blanchard (brother)
Rose M. Blanchard (sister)
Emile S. Blanchard (brother)
Yvonne Blanchard (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-63969
Data
Type: B-24D
Destination: Osnabruck, Germany
Mission: Bombing of communication lines
MACR: 2193

More information

S/Sgt Theodore A. Blanchard graduated from Winnoski High School and worked in a textile factory.

He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States on 8 January 1942. He received his basic training at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and to Luke Field in Arizona, where he was graduated as a mechanic at the advanced flying school. From Arizona he was transferred to Las Vegas, Nevada, then to Salt Lake City in Utah, Clovis, New Mexico and finally to Denver, Colorado where he was graduated at the gunnery school.

Crews of other airplanes in the formation spotted this airplane for the last time in the vicinity of 5238N-0620E. At this point the group ran into intense flak and concentrated enemy fighter attacks. To avoid the flak the lead aircraft took violent evasive action which scattered the formation. In the confusion the whereabouts of this aircraft remained unknown.

The entire crew of nine men was killed.

S/Sgt Blanchard is remembered at Saint Francis Xavier Cemetery in Winooski, Chittenden County, Vermont with a memorial marker.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - Birth Record / Family Tree, www.newspapers.com - The Burlington Free Press, WWII Draft Card

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.newspapers.com - The Burlington Free Press, www.findagrave.com