Ralph Francis Conte

Military

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

An A-26 Invader (F6-P, serial number 43-22330) nicknamed "For Pete's Sake" of the 416th Bomb Group prepares for take-off at Mount Farm. Image by Robert Astrella, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group . Written on slide casing: '416 BG Mount Farm.'

416th Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Ninth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

Arnold Jack Burland

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Service Numbers: 39208608
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade)
  • Role/Job: Aerial Gunner

William J Donahue

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 670th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade)
  • Role/Job: Aerial Gunner

Francis G Falk

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 668th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 35621083
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade)
  • Role/Job: Aerial Gunner

Kalen Heath

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 669th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade)
  • Role/Job: Aerial Gunner

David Archibald Hulse

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 669th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-736223
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

41-3387

  • Aircraft Type: A-20 Havoc
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 670th Bomb Squadron 2911th Bomb Squadron (Provisional)

43-10135

  • Aircraft Type: A-20 Havoc
  • Nicknames: Irish
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 669th Bomb Squadron

43-22521

  • Aircraft Type: A-26 Invader
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group

43-9439

  • Aircraft Type: A-20 Havoc
  • Nicknames: Out Helln
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 670th Bomb Squadron

43-9452

  • Aircraft Type: A-20 Havoc
  • Unit: 410th Bomb Group 644th Bomb Squadron

Places

Melun

  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Melun, Alsace

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Paterson, New Jersey 8 May 1917
Paterson, New Jersey 16 October 1940 471 Summer Street

Other

First 416th BG Combat Mission

Bernay, France 4 March 1944

Other

Wounded In Action/Purple Heart

Gassicourt, France 18 July 1944 Wounded by flak General Orders No. 134, 25 July 1944, Purple Heart is awarded to: 670th Bombardment Squadron (L), Ralph Conte, O-749833, First Lieutenant, Air Corps, United States Army. For wounds received in action against an enemy of the United States on 18 July 1944, while serving as Bombardier-Navigator on an A-20 airplane on a combat operational mission over enemy occupied territory. Entered military service from New Jersey.

Other

Final 416th BG Combat Mission

Mechernich, New Jersey 14 February 1945

Died

Columbia, Missouri 1 April 2016 Capt. Ralph Conte, passed away on Friday, April 1, 2016 at the Harry S. Truman Veterans Hospital in Columbia, Missouri. A private family ceremony was held at Jacksonville Veterans Cemetery on Wednesday, April 6. He was the son of Angelina and Salvatore Conte, Italian immigrants, and had three brothers and three sisters. He attended Paterson (New Jersey) High School and worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. In the Army Air Corps, he flew 66 WWII missions including two on D-Day. He married Norma Zanetti on April 15, 1945, and she preceded him in death in 2009. Through the G.I. Bill, he graduated from Rutgers University in 1955 and spent a career in wastewater treatment management in New Jersey, Illinois, Kansas, and Texas. He moved to Missouri in 2002 and then participated in a Central Missouri Honor Flight. He married Margaret "Margy" Harrison on Sept. 18, 2010, and the couple volunteered at Truman Veterans Hospital. He is also noted for his affiliation with the 416th Bomb Group organization, having served as a bombardier/navigator with the 669th and 670th Bomb Squadrons during WWII. He promoted reunion efforts and wrote about the WWII experience in newspaper stories and a book, "Attack Bombers We Need You," which gave the history of the 416th's 285 missions.

Buried

Jacksonville, Missouri 6 April 2016 Missouri Veterans Cemetery at Jacksonville Jacksonville, Randolph County, Missouri, USA Plot Section CW1 Row C Site 033

Revisions

Date
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
Sources

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/160392624/ralph-francis-conte
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2238/images/44025_08_0…
http://www.416th.com/missions/LoadingList.html
http://www.416th.com/MACR_AAR/19440718_43-9452_No_Report-_Hulse.html
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/160392624/ralph-francis-conte