John Virgil Colson
Military25 missions. Shot down 30 November 1944 in B-24 #4251272. Prisoner of War (POW).
AM/ PH/ POW
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Unit: 446th Bomb Group 706th Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Flixton
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Folkston, Georgia | 22 March 1919 | |
Mount Berry, Georgia | 16 October 1940 | Student at Berry College | |
Other Shot Down/WIA/Captured |
Neunkirchen, Germany | 30 November 1944 | November 30: Neunkirchen, Saarland, Germany The marshalling yards were bombed through solid cloud cover. A plane 42-51272 received a direct flak hit in it's bomb bay, split in 2, and crashed. The pilot was blown free by the explosion and parachuted safely to the ground where he was taken prisoner, but the other 10 crewmen were killed. Another unnamed plane (42-51115) was severely damaged by debris from the explosion of the first. One crewman was killed by the debris, another bailed out but died later. The remaining 8 bailed out and landed safely in Allied occupied territory. |
Died |
Columbia, South Carolina | 22 July 2002 | The REV. J. VIRGIL COLSON, 83, of Columbia, S.C., formerly of Jacksonville, Fla., and Honolulu, died July 22, 2002. Born in Folkston, Ga. Decorated B-24 pilot and prisoner of war; former pastor of Pali View Baptist church, Kane'ohe; Liberia, West Africa, missionary associate. Survived by wife, Grace Bishop Colson; sons, Charles, John and Carey; brother, Wilton; sisters, Margaret Gray and Ginger Horne; six grandchildren. |
Buried |
Folkston, Georgia | 25 July 2002 | Sardis Cemetery Folkston, Charlton County, Georgia, USA |
Other POW |
Barth, Germany | Stalag Luft I |
Revisions
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / self, MACR 11148