- Rank:
- Branch of Service:
Circumstances:
Killed in service when B-24D Liberator #42-40535 collided with trees while attempting to land at the Smyrna Army Airfield, Smyrna, Tennessee
Biography:
Born in Carmen, Canada on November 4, 1918. Was a Walsh County, North Dakota resident on February 11, 1941 when he entered the USAF Fargo, North Dakota.
Killed in service when B-24D Liberator #42-40535 collided with trees while attempting to land at the Smyrna Army Airfield, Smyrna, Tennessee.
Returning from a triangular navigational training flight that took the crew to Chattanooga, then onward to Knoxville and back to Smyrna, they encountered heavy rain and low visibility. On first attempt to land, the instructor advised the student pilot to fly directly over the runway then to do a go-around. On the second landing attempt, the bomber lost too much elevation and collided with trees and crashed, killing five and seriously injuring two others.
He is buried in Mount Olive City Cemetery, Mount Olive, Covington County, Mississippi