Wilbur Dale Stites
Military
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UPL 23247
453rd Bomb Group sergeants Wilbur Stites and Winford Pace with an unknown girlfriend.
Assigned to 734BS, 453BG, 8AF USAAF. On 17-Oct-44 on mission to Cologne in B-24 42-95312, AC received flak damage causing fuel to leak. After 3 engines quit crew baled out inside friendly lines and all returned to duty RTD. 35 x combat missions. ETD
Awards: WWII Victory, EAME.
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
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 453rd Bomb Group 734th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 19128611 / O-699686
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Lucky Penny
- Unit: 453rd Bomb Group 734th Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
La Rose, IL | 13 December 1922 | Son of Leslie and Ethel M [Kohl] Stites. |
Enlisted |
Peoria, IL | 3 October 1942 | Peoria, Illinois |
Other Baled out RTD |
Spa, Belgium | 17 October 1944 | On 17 Oct 1944 on mission to Cologne in B-24 42-95312, AC received flak damage causing fuel to leak. After 3 engines quit crew baled out inside friendly lines and all returned to duty RTD. |
Died |
Black Earth, WI | 1 March 2009 | |
Buried |
Highland Memory Gardens Cottage Grove, Dane County, WI | 5 March 2009 | Highland Memory Gardens Cottage Grove, Dane County, WI |
Based |
Old Buckenham | Assigned to 734BS, 453BG, 8AF USAAF. |
Revisions
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Page 418 in the book 2ND AIR DIVISION by Turner Publishing Company, 1998 edition (D790.A2S45)
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / The Liberator Men of Old Buc