Military
"White crosses mark the graves of American soldiers in a military cemetery somewhere in North Africa. 8 November 1943." L-R : Robert J. Nespor John C. Riley Thurman L. Ward Darmond R. Massort Edward J. Suwa John P. D'Amour George W. Lawlor.
Communal burial - Headstone.
Staff Sgt. John D'Amour was killed in action (KIA) after being reassigned as a replacement gunner, from the 93rd Bomb Group, in the 8th Air Force, reassigned to Lt. John S. Young's regular B-24D, 41-11768, named, Kickapoo, as part of the 344th Bomb Squadron, the 98th Bomb Group, in the 9th Air Force on Operation Tidal Wave to Ploesti.
Sgt. D'Amour was killed (KIA) when, Kickapoo, crashed shortly after take off for the low level Ploesti, Romania mission. The airplane's number 4 engine failed just after getting airborne and caught fire. The plane's replacement pilot, Lt. Robert Nespor, turned back to Lete field to land. On his second approach, with his aircraft's right wing engulfed in flames, he lost power in his other three engines, landed hard, bounced, and the plane's right wing struck a concrete pole. The plane cartwheeled into the ground, off the runway, and exploded in flames, killing everyone on board, except for two of the replacement crewmen, who were able to escape the wreckage, badly burned, but survived their burns and, after a long recovery, were able to return to duty. 7 KIA. 2 WIA-RTD. 1 Aug 1943
Awards: Air Medal - E-A-M-E Medal - Purple Heart
Due to the aborted takeoff and subsequent crash, Lt. Nespor's crew did not receive mission credit, and their names do not appear in the official USAAF History Roster of Personnel for DFCs. They did receive their Distinguished Flying Cross and Purple Heart Medals posthumously.
Military | First Lieutenant | B-24 Command Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
1st Lt. Robert James Nespor, Jr. was a B-24D bomber command pilot in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bombardment Group, "The Pyramiders", and the 330th Bombing Squadron, based at Benghazi, Libya, in North Africa. He was assigned to fly on the huge mission,...
Military | Major | B-24 Command Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
Lt. John S. Young was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. Bored with college at SMU in Dallas, and knowing the country was headed for war, he joined the Army Air Force early in 1941 and began training as an aviation cadet. He was known as "Johnny" and ...
Group
The 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated 1 Mar 42 at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. On 15 May 42. the Group moved to Ft. Myers, Florida, to continue advanced flight training and also to fly antisubmarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico. They...
Squadron
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D Liberator, 41-11768, named, Kickapoo, was Lt. John S. Young's regularly assigned B-24D, after his 98th Bombardment Group moved out of Egypt, to the air bases at Benghazi, Libya. John Young was from Dallas, Texas, like so many of the men...
1 August 1943
Operation TIDAL WAVE. B-24D Liberators attack the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. The bombers flew low to avoid radar detection and dropped time delayed bombs. Out of the 177 B-24s that took part in the raid 167 managed to attack their targets. 57...
Military site : airfield
| Event | Location | Date |
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| Born | Sparta, MI 49345, USA | 9 August 1911 |
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Son of John B and Mary E [Guerno] D'Amour. |
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| Enlisted | 3 April 1942 | |
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Detroit, Michigan |
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| Assigned | Benghazi, Libya | 1943 |
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Assigned to the 93rd Bomb Group in the 8th AF. |
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| Died | Benghazi, Libya | 1 August 1943 |
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Killed in action when his plane in which he was assigned as a replacement crew member gunner. His assigned B-24D, 41-11768, Kickapoo, in the 344th Bomb Squadron, the 98th Bomb Group, in the 9th Air Force. Aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff for the low level Ploesti mission. An engine failed just after getting airborne and caught fire while banking back toward the field to land. The right wing struck a concrete pole upon landing, cartwheeling the airplane into the ground off the runway, and exploded into a fireball of flames. 8 KIA. 2 WIA- RTD. 1 Aug 1943. |
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| Buried | Fort Scott National Cemetery Fort Scott, Bourbon County KS | 1948 |
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Fort Scott National Cemetery |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 30 April 2022 09:28:22 | Kickapoo | Changes to biography |
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Removed punctuation marks from around aircraft name for clarity, uniformity, and readability. - Kickapoo |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 January 2022 13:57:44 | Al_Skiff | Changes to biography, awards and events |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 January 2022 11:01:41 | Kickapoo | Changes to awards |
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Black Sunday-Ploesti - Michael Hill |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 January 2022 11:00:28 | Kickapoo | Changes to biography |
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Black Sunday-Ploesti - Michael Hill |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 January 2022 10:56:55 | Kickapoo | Changes to biography, awards, events and person associations |
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Black Sunday-Ploesti - Michael Hill |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 January 2022 10:26:11 | Kickapoo | Changes to nickname, role, biography and place associations |
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Details added, spelling, word spacing changes. - Kickapoo |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 17 January 2022 20:07:39 | Al_Skiff | Changes to biography, awards and events |
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https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/552190/john-paul-d'Amour |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 16 January 2022 19:35:36 | decwriter | Changes to biography, awards and events |
| Sources | ||
Added to awards and bio entry. Find a Grave data |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 15 August 2021 19:26:17 | Al_Skiff | Changes to biography and events |
| Sources | ||
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/552190/john-paul-d'amour |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 15 August 2021 19:15:48 | jmoore43 | Changes to biography |
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Added punctuation in the "Summary biography" to aid readability. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 04 January 2021 18:21:35 | Al_Skiff | Changes to middlename, biography, events, person associations and unit associations |
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https://www.fold3.com/image/659331709 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 20 April 2020 21:38:21 | jmoore43 | Changes to biography |
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Added a "#" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 08 March 2017 14:51:37 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to unit associations |
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Merged with duplicate entry to include details from: |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 18 April 2015 14:33:28 | Al_Skiff | Created entry with surname, middlename, firstname, nationality, service number, highest rank, role, biography, events, unit associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
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