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Military
1st LT. Claire D. Porter
Claire Porter served as a P-38 pilot with the 343rd Fighter Squadron of the 55th Fighter Group. On 16 June 1944, while strafing gun emplacement, his P-38 #43-28713 was hit by flak and crashed near Oisemont. Porter survived and was taken as a Prisoner of War. He was held in Stalag Luft XVIIb.
Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 bronze stars and World War II Victory Medal. He was eligible to apply for the Prisoner of War Medal after it was authorized in 1985.
Military | Captain | Fighter Pilot | 495th Fighter Training Group
Loren was my uncle and he and my dad joined up at the same time. Loren introduced my mother to Claire (Loren was married to mom's sister). They both served flying P-38s in 55th FG but in different squadrons. Loren went on to fly P-51's in England and...
Military | First Lieutenant | Fighter Pilot | 479th Fighter Group
Group
The 55th Fighter Group were the first P-38 Lightning Group to go fully operational from England. The pilots flew long-range escort missions for bombers flying over occupied Europe and racked up 'kills' of their own by destroying enemy aircraft in...
Squadron
P-38 Lightning
P-38 Lightning
Military site : airfield
Built during 1942-43, Nuthampstead was the nearest Eighth Air Force heavy bomber base to London. It had three concrete runways, 50 loop hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. It was first occupied from September 1943 to April 1944 by the 55th...
Other location
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Wilbur, WA 99185, USA | 10 March 1921 |
| Lived in | Spokane, WA, USA | 1 January 1930 |
| Enlisted | 16 September 1940 | |
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Parkwater, Washington |
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| Shot Down | Oisemont, France | 16 June 1944 |
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Shot down while strafing gun emplacement. POW until end of War. |
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| Prisoner of War (POW) | Moosburg, Germany | 16 June 1944 |
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Stalag 7A Moosburg Bavaria 48-12 (Work Camps 3324-46 Krumbachstrasse 48011, Work Camp 3368 Munich 48-11) |
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| Died | Las Vegas, NV, USA | 22 June 1994 |
| Buried | Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 25 January 2022 01:38:24 | decwriter | Changes to middlename, service number, biography, awards and events |
| Sources | ||
Added middle name, ASN upon entry, ADSM based on entry date and ACM for continued service. Based on the previous entry, I believe it meant to reference the EAME Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars versus the Bronze Star Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters as no BSM file exists for Claire D. Porter. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 January 2022 21:04:20 | jmoore43 | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Updated the location of the "Shot Down " event per info in the "Summary biography". |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 January 2022 20:59:09 | jmoore43 | Changes to biography, events and place associations |
| Sources | ||
Added a POW event per WW2 POW records at the National Archives (NARA). |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 31 March 2017 09:26:26 | Lucy May | Changes to service number, role, biography, person associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
Brought in information from duplicate record. Sources: |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 February 2017 22:53:43 | Apilotsproudson | Changes to biography and events |
| Sources | ||
My dads own recollection. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 February 2017 22:47:50 | Apilotsproudson | Changes to nickname and awards |
| Sources | ||
I have his Medal in my possession |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 February 2017 22:45:57 | Apilotsproudson | Changes to service number |
| Sources | ||
US National Archives |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 February 2017 22:43:36 | Apilotsproudson | Changes to highest rank and events |
| Sources | ||
Accordin to family records and I as one of his sons can verify death date and place. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:06:12 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 5737 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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