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Richard Kelly Bodwell Jr

Military

Assigned to 742BS, 455th BG, 15AF USAAF. Meriwether Jones crew. 20+ combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Bucharest, Romania in B-24 41-28640 'Raunchy'; Crashed Draconesti, Romania 21-Apr-44 Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 4387

Awards: POW, PH, WWII Victory, EAME.

Service

People

  • Meriwether Jones

    Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 455th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 742BS, 455th BG, 15AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Bucharest, Romania in B-24 41-28640; Crashed Draconesti, Romania 21-Apr-44 Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 4387 Awards: SS, AM (2OLC), PH.

Units served with

  • 742nd Bomb Squadron

    742nd Bomb Squadron

  • 455th Bomb Group

    455th Bomb Group

    Group
    The group was activated July 1943 with four essentially stand-alone bomb squadrons: 740th, 741st, 742nd, and 743rd. After a somewhat nomadic training regimen with dilapidated equipment, the pieces of the group came together at Langley, VA in October...

Aircraft

  • 41-28640 Raunchy

    B-24 Liberator
    Assigned to 742BS, 455th BG, 15AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Bucharest, Romania with Meriwether Jones crew; Crashed Draconesti, Romania 21-Apr-44 8 x POW, 2 x KIA MACR 4387

Associated Place

Events

Event Location Date
Born Salem, NH 30 January 1922

Son of Richard Kelly Sr and Minnie Sophie [Weinhold] Bodwell.
Enlisted Hartford, CT 13 June 1942

Hartford, Connecticut
Based San Giovanni 1943 – 21 April 1944

Assigned to 742BS, 455th BG, 15AF USAAF.
Baled out POW Dracesti, Romania 21 April 1944

Failed to Return (FTR) Bucharest, Romania in B-24 41-28640 'Raunchy'; Crashed Draconesti, Romania 21-Apr-44 POW MACR 4387
Prisoner of War (POW) 21 April 1944 – May 1945

Prisoner of War (POW).
Died Nashua, NH 1 April 2006
Buried Pine Grove Cemetery, Salem, Rockingham County, NH 4 April 2006

Pine Grove Cemetery
Salem, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
Nationality
American
Nickname
Not yet known
Service numbers
11072135 / O-811526
Highest rank
Second Lieutenant
Role/job
Navigator
Awards
  • European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
  • Prisoner of War Medal
  • Purple Heart
  • World War II Victory Medal

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
24 October 2020 13:47:06 Al_Skiff Created entry with surname, middlename, firstname, suffix, nationality, service number, highest rank, role, biography, events, person associations, unit associations, place associations and aircraft associations
Sources

https://www.fold3.com/image/28639584
https://www.fold3.com/image/216214645
https://www.fold3.com/record/241843-richard-k-bodwell
https://www.fold3.com/record/83404885-richard-k-bodwell-jr
https://www.fold3.com/record/627670884-richard-bodwell-1922
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/216457956/richard-kelly-bodwell

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