Daniel C Smoke

Military ROLL OF HONOUR

media-55503.jpeg UPL 55503 Smoke Crew - 838th Squadron, 487th Bomb Group
The crew of 2nd Lt Daniel C. Smoke Jr outside the mess hall at Hunter Army Air Field, near Savannah, Georgia. The crew completed B-17 operational training at Biloxi, Mississippi, and was sent to Hunter Field to pick up a new B-17 for the deployment flight to England.
Back row (L to R): Sgt John White Jr (engineer), Sgt Harold J. Stone (radio operator), Sgt Richard E. Burres (tail gunner), Sgt Elmer E. Koepsell (waist gunner), Sgt David W. Sala (ball turret gunner)
Front row (L to R): 2nd Lt Daniel C. Smoke Jr (pilot), F/O George H. Pendarvis (copilot), F/O Gunnar K. Olsen (navigator), 2nd Lt John H. Strong (bombardier)
These men all perished in B-17G 43-38038 in a midair collision with 43-37969 over France on March 19, 1945.

http://www.487thbg.org/Photos/SmokeCrew.shtml

Object Number - UPL 55503 - Smoke Crew - 838th Squadron, 487th Bomb Group The crew of 2nd Lt Daniel C. Smoke Jr outside the mess hall at Hunter Army Air Field, near Savannah,...

Killed in Action (KIA) - mid air collision (p268 of DeJong book. B-17G 43-38038 'Flying Chapel', 19/3/45 with Dan Smoke was in mid air collision with 43-37969; crashed Couvron, France; Salvaged 21/3/45.

A prophetic poem that he wrote when he was a senior at A.G. Parrish High School in 1941.

“When the last bell rings, at the close of each school day, we separate from our comrades, and homeward wind our way. The days are flying swiftly; yes, time still marches on: and before we have time to stop and think, our life is half-way gone.”