Shirley Clare Griffith was the son of Michigan natives, Carl W and Ethel Griffith. He attended Washington Gardner High School in Albion, MI. He enlisted in the Michigan State National Guard on 25 Sep 1940. He was inducted into the US Army on 24 Feb 1941. He and his wife, Doris, married in Seattle, Washington, where he was stationed in 1942. His only child, Suzanne was born in March 1943.

Shirley served as the Ball Turret Gunner on the B-17G, #446140 'Miss Lace,' on 30 Nov 1944 when it encountered heavy flak over the target, the Brabag Synthetic Oil Plant just northeast of Zeitz, Germany. After a near explosion of flak, the plane lost its right wing and entered a vertical spiral while ablaze. It broke into two sections: the tail/waist, which landed near Threna, Germany, and the nose, which crashed into District 7 of the Oberholz Forest near Großpösna, Germany. Shirley's remains and military ID Tag were found with the tail/waist section of the plane near Threna and buried in a single grave at Threna town cemetery.

In late June 1945, the US Army exhumed his remains. Identification of those remains was made from military dental records and his dog tag. His re-interment occurred in Graceland Cemetery, Racine, WS, in Dec 1948.

Service

Events

Event	Location	Date
Born	Kent County, MI, USA	16 June 1916
Died	Threna, 04683 Belgershain, Germany	30 November 1944
Buried	Racine, WI, USA	December 1948