Charles B Cothran
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
His nephew Jay Smith
Object Number - UPL 33236 - The Crew of 42-5893 Sad Sack
Shot down in 42-5893 'Sad Sax' 26 July 1943 (MACR 197.) Prisoner of War (POW) Stalag XVIIB. Killed during Death March in 1945. The Army recovered his body from a mass grave in Stein, Austria, and established officially that his death came during a march from one prison camp to another on June 1, 1945. That is the date of death on his grave stone at the Paris, TX cemetery.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 95th Bomb Group 336th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 95th Bomb Group 336th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36323929
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 95th Bomb Group 336th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16003331, O-789459
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 95th Bomb Group 336th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33001506 at enlistment, then O-733649
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 95th Bomb Group 336th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Sad Sack
- Unit: 95th Bomb Group 336th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 26 July 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
15 September 1921 | Grant, Oklahoma | |
|
Other captured |
26 July 1943 | Germany | |
|
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
26 July 1943 | Interned at Stalag XVIIB, Krems, Austria. | |
|
Died |
Killed on a forced-march either on 28 April 1945, or 1 June 1945 according to the US Army. | ||
|
Buried |
his remains were repatriated from Belgium in June 1951. Charles Cothran rests at the Evergreen Cemetery in Paris, Lamar County, Texas. |
Revisions
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 197 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / RE Bloxom