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Personal info

Full name
WHITE, Richard Brighton "Dick"
Date of birth
10 April 1917
Age
27
Place of birth
Pennsylvania
Hometown
Lebanon, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Military service

Service number
O-374102
Rank
Captain
Function
Pilot
Unit
551st Bombardment Squadron,
385th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
12 July 1944
Place of death
Northwest of Perlé, Luxembourg

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
Plot Row Grave
B 14 31

Immediate family

Members
Austin A. White (father)
Gertrude M. (Howard) White (mother)
Jack H. White (brother)
Kitty L. White (sister)
Catherine L. White (sister)
Hilda M. (Groh) White (wife)
Dick White (son)

Plane data

Serial number
42-31917
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Off Spring
Destination: Munich, Germany
Mission: Bombing of a marshalling yard, an aircraft engine factory and an airfield
MACR: 7507

More information

Capt Richard B. White graduated from Lebanon High School in 1933 where he played football, basketball, and baseball and attended Princeton University, where he was a football star.

He joined the Regular Army on 1 December 1940 and transferred to the Army Air Corps in February 1943.

The B-17 with serial number 42-31917 was caught in the prop wash of the preceding aircraft, causing it to nose up and collide with B-17 #42-102606.
Upon impact, #42-31917 broke in two at the waist gun positions and was last seen falling through the undercast.

One crew member survived and was taken prisoner, and nine men were killed.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - 1920/1930 Census, Harrisburg Telegraph - 13 March 1945, The Evening News - 11 December 1944, The Gazette and Daily - 28 July 1944
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.findagrave.com - Joel Frampton Gilfert, Mercerburg Academy Yearbook 1935