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Personal info

Full name
GRILL, Mark Rollyn
Date of birth
30 May 1921
Age
23
Place of birth
Marinette, Marinette County, Wisconsin
Hometown
Marinette, Marinette County, Wisconsin

Military service

Service number
O-708877
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Bombardier
Unit
856th Bombardment Squadron,
492nd Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
7 July 1944
Place of death
In the area of Bernburg, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
N 16 13

Immediate family

Members
Mathias A. Grill (father)
Elizabeth (Jaeger) Grill (mother)
Mark C. Grill (brother)
Alden R. Grill (brother)
Carol E. Grill (sister)
Ursula Grill (sister)
Elizabeth M. Grill (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-95005
Data
Type: B-24H
Nickname: Dreamer
Destination: Bernburg, Germany
Mission: Bombing Aircraft manufacturing facility
MACR: 7236

More information

Lt Mark R. Grill attended the University of Wisconsin - Madison as part of the Class of 1944 where has on the school's baseball team.

The final mission for the Watson Crew was on 7 July 1944. The Luftwaffe attacked the 492nd from their behind where they didn't have any fighter protection. The air battle turned into a blood-bath as casualties ran high on both sides. The airplane Second Lieutenant Grill was in was knocked out of the action along with nine other ships from the 492nd. Only two of the dead could be identified for burial.

After the war, another crewmember was reburied in the US. The rest of the crew was buried as a group. Today that group is buried together at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St Louis, Missouri.

Source of information: Michel Beckers, Astrid van Erp, Terry Hirsch, www.492ndbombgroup.com, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - 1920 Census

Photo source: Michel Beckers, www.ancestry.com - University of Wisconsin yearbook 1942 and 1943