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name
PITTS, Walter Harvey - Date of
birth
28 December 1922 -
Age
21 - Place of
birth
Eureka, Humboldt County, California -
Hometown
Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-770393 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Pilot -
Unit
63rd Fighter Squadron,
56th Fighter Group
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
28 September 1944 - Place of
death
Hupperdingen, Luxembourg
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| G | 13 | 70 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Harvey W. Pitts (father)
Sybil W. Pitts (mother)
Betty J. Pitts (sister)
Elsbeth L. (Nissen) Pitts (wife)
More information
2nd Lt Walter H. Pitts graduated from Santa Rosa High School where he was president of the Phi Lambda Epsilon chapter fraternity. He was the line captain of the school's football team in 1941 and was also the school's boxing champion. He was employed by the ice cream firm operated by his parents.He was married to Elsbeth Lucille Nissen on 19 March 1944.
Overseas for four months, Lt Pitts had already been credited with shooting down two enemy planes, damaging trains and other targets in enemy-occupied Europe. He was with a fighter group commanded by Lt Col David C. Schilling of Michigan, and he was engaged in escorting heavy bombers, dive-bombing, and strafing assigned targets.
According to the Mission Summary Report of the 56th Fighter Group, dated 28 September 1944, 2nd Lt Walter H. Pitts was investigating a convoy southwest of Koblenz and flew into the ground. Lt. Pitts came down in Allied territory in Luxembourg. His crash location is Hupperdingen, local district "Knupp", according to the most reliable sources from there.
Source of information: Carla Mans, www.56thfightergroup.co.uk, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.footnote.com, www.ancestry.com - 1930/1940 Census / U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, Petaluma Argus-Courier (Petaluma, California)
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.56thfightergroup.co.uk, Pilot Class Book 44-C, Pecos, Texas, The Press Democrat - 2 February 1944