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Submit- Full
name
KEEFER, Richard George - Date of
birth
6 April 1923 -
Age
21 - Place of
birth
Parkers Landing, Clarion County, Pennsylvania -
Hometown
Clarion County, Pennsylvania
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
13087561 -
Rank
Technical Sergeant -
Function
Radio Operator/Gunner -
Unit
453rd Bombardment Squadron,
323rd Bombardment Group, Medium
-
Awards
Distinguished Flying Cross,
Air Medal with 6 Oak Leaf Clusters
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
20 May 1944 - Place of
death
North Sea, off the coast of Dieppe, France
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes - Tablets of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
George C. Keefer (father)
Vera M. (Terwilliger) Keefer (mother)
Woodrow P. Keefer (brother)
Earl L. Keefer (brother)
Elizabeth J. Keefer (sister)
John J. Keefer (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
41-31950 -
Data
Type: B-26B
Nickname: Battlin Bitch
Destination: Dieppe, France
Mission: Bombing of the coastal defenses
MACR: 4966
More information
Sgt Keefer graduated from Parker High School with the class of 1941.A veteran of at least 50 aerial missions, he was the only member of a crew to survive an earlier crashlanding in a sandstorm during a flight from Dakar across North-Africa in 1943.
The aircraft was last sighted over the target at approximately 1913 hours after it was severely damaged by enemy anti-aircraft fire. No other observations were possible.
It most likely crashed into the North Sea off the coast of Dieppe, France.
All seven crew members were killed.
His brother, Cpl John J. Keefer, was killed in France on 14 March 1945, by the explosion of an anti-personnel mine planted by the Germans near an airfield where he was serving as navigator of a C-47 transport plane. He is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - Family Trees, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.newspapers.com - The Clarion Democrat
Photo source: FOHF