Roy Margel Ballard

Military
media-44525.jpeg UPL 44525 SSGT Roy M. Ballard
Ball Turret Gunner
Robert C. Cozens Crew
95th BG - 334th BS 95th Bomb Group collection

https://95thbg.mmsw.eu/person/275

Object Number - UPL 44525 - SSGT Roy M. Ballard Ball Turret Gunner Robert C. Cozens Crew 95th BG - 334th BS

Connections

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Units served with

People

Aircraft

42-30342

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: T'aint A Bird II
  • Unit: 388th Bomb Group 95th Bomb Group Base Air Depot 1 334th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Howland, TX 29 May 1921

Other

95th BG Combat Tour

Horham Airfield, UK 13 May 1943 - 20 October 1943 25 Combat Missions

Died

Roxton, TX 27 October 1996 THE PARIS NEWS, Mon., Oct. 28, 1996, p. 5A: '(Picture) Roy Margel Ballard, 75, died Sunday Oct. 27, 1996, at his home in Roxton. Services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29, at Fry and Gibbs Funeral Home Chapel with Nolan Butler, minister of College Church of Christ, officiating. He will be assisted by Earl Smith and Jerry Amsler. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 7-8 p.m. Monday at the funeral home and at other times at their home in Roxton. Mr. Ballard was born May 29, 1921, in Howland, Lamar County, Texas, a son of James Roy (Jack) and Mary Essie Ballard. He graduated from Paris High School in 1938. In July 1942 he enlisted in the United States Air Force and graduated from Harlingen, Texas Gunnery School where he was awarded the Silver Wings of the Aerial Gunner and promoted to the rank of sergeant. He was a ball turrett gunner on U.S. bombers with the 95th Bombardment Group and flew more than 35 missions in France, Germany, Africa and England, receiving the European-African-Middle Eastern Air Medal with one Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal with three Bronze Clusters, one Overseas Bar and the Distinguished Flying Cross. In October 1945, he received his honorable discharge at Randolph Field, Texas. In 1947, he was one of the first to enlist when the Texas National Guard was organized in Lamar County. He served with the 49th Armored Division at Port Polk, LA, during the Berlin crisis and served as administrative assistant to the division surgeon until his retirement in 1981 with the rank of major. He was owner and operator of Ballard Trucking Co. many years. Mr. Ballard was a 25-year member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks No. 2433, serving the organization as Exalted Ruler from 1977-1979 and from 1984 until the present. During his tenure the lodge increased its membership from 200 to 1,200 and is the largest lodge in membership in Texas. He married Barbara Thompson April 27, 1947,

Buried

Paris, TX 29 October 1996 Evergreen Cemetery Paris, Lamar County, Texas, USA

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added middle name from info in the obituary attached to the Died event.

Date
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
Sources

https://95thbg.mmsw.eu/person/275
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/44132816/roy-margel-ballard

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / http://95thbg.org/95th_db_pages/left_formation_code/gethonoroll.php

Roy Margel Ballard: Gallery (2 items)