Amos Frank Estrada
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
Removed connections not shown in the image. Connections made in person record.
Object Number - UPL 43912 - Amos Frank Estrada (tail gunner of B-17 44-6117). Photo attached to public memories of Melinda Ann Crowe (née Estrad), which she donated to the...
Shot down by fighters and crashed at Stolzenburg on 6/21/44 in B-17 #44-6117, Killed in Action (KIA). The tail gunner, Sgt Estrada, had most possibly been hit in his position and it's reported that he was first to bail out. Crew members and the pilot say that he was the first to jump out. While jumping, he lost one of his boots, as he exited the escape hatch, in the rear of the aircraft. By the time he hit the ground, and the evidence seems to be that his parachute did open, he was dead. There is a suggestion that he was shot by an enemy fighter while descending! This is unlikely. He was buried in the Spanholtz Cemetery in Ruhlow, Germany. He lies now in the Ardennes Military Cemetery in Belgium. His boot remained in the plane and was recovered in July and August 1989, when 46-117 was explored by underwater divers of the 5th International Divers' Expedition under patronage of ZHP (Polish Scouts' Association).
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
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 322nd Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 21 June 1944
- Official Description:
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
California, USA | 24 April 1920 | Born in Brighton, Colorado, as youngest son of David and Fedelina Estrada. Received high school diploma in 1938. Married Lillian Keller of Kansas on 28 May 1941. They have daughter Melinda Ann Crowe (born in 1942). |
|
Enlisted |
Colorado, USA | 11 August 1941 | He stationed in Texas, California, Kingsman, Arizona and Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado. |
|
Died |
Ruhlow, Germany | 21 June 1944 | Probably attacked by enemy fighters during a parachute flight or already wounded inside the aircraft, as a result of the rear horizontal stabilizer damage from enemy aircraft. |
|
Buried |
21 June 1944 | Burried in Sponholz, Germany. Later burried in Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial, Neuville-en-Condroz, Arrondissement de Liège, Liège, Belgium |
Revisions
Added a "-" to the A/C tail # in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
Registration cards for the US Army, Pawel Ziatek briefcase with preserved documents and photos, 44-6117 crew letters to Amos Estrada's wife (Lillian, nee Keller) and personal memorabilia of his daughter (Melinda), which she donated to the Museum in Colorado.
Contact with currators:
Pawel Ziatek (brodaty pawelziatek.pl)
Brinley Morgan (tigrefinnland gmail.com)
Piotr Wit (pwitpriv sz.onet.pl)
Registration cards for the US Army, Pawel Ziatek briefcase with preserved documents and photos, 44-6117 crew letters to Amos Estrada's wife (Lillian, nee Keller) and personal memorabilia of his daughter (Melinda), which she donated to the Museum in Colorado.
Contact with currators:
Pawel Ziatek (brodaty pawelziatek.pl)
Brinley Morgan (tigrefinnland gmail.com)
Piotr Wit (pwitpriv sz.onet.pl)
Information supplied by Lord Morgan, researcher of this story. Husband of the niece of the Flight Engineer/top turret gunner S/Sgt Irwin Lewis. Published in a revised book for the Lewis Family (now under a second revision ( to be published in April 2019).
Title; The B-17 At The Bottom Of A Polish Lake - The Flight Engineer’s Story, a Resourceful Pilot and a Remarkable Plane. Brinley Morgan 2018.
MACR 5980 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
