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name
REID, Donald McClure - Date of
birth
10 June 1908 -
Age
35 -
Place of birth
Tecumseh, Lenawee County, Michigan -
Hometown
Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
16084794 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
Right Waist Gunner -
Unit
339th Bombardment Squadron,
96th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
15 September 1943 - Place of
death
Between Le Pecq and Le Mesnil-le-Roi, France
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Epinal
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| B | 9 | 68 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Edwin H. Reid (father)
Nina A. (McClure) Reid (mother)
Marguerite E. Reid (sister)
June G. Heath (half-sister)
Jeanette M. (Savage) Reid (wife)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-3437 -
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Excalibur’s Revenge
Destination: Paris, France
Mission: Bombing of the Hispano-Suiza industrial complex
MACR: 726
More information
S/Sgt Donald M. Reid attended both Michigan State College and the University of Michigan. He was a special agent for the James M. Wilson Corporation before he volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in Kalamazoo, Michigan on 19 June 1942.The airplane was critically hit. While initial U.S. military records attributed the loss to German anti-aircraft flak, German fighter records indicate it was claimed as an aerial victory by Staffelkapitän Herbert Huppertz of Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG 2) at an altitude of 7,000 meters. The bomber suffered an in-flight explosion, scattering wreckage between Le Pecq and Le Mesnil-le-Roi. Out of the crew of 10 men , 9 were killed in action.
S/Sgt Reid was first interred in the New Cemetery at Virofly, Paris and was later reburied at the Temporary American Military Cemetery in Solers, France.
He is remembered at Brookside Cemetery in Tecumseh, Michigan.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / WWII Draft Cards Young Men, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.findagrave.com – Russ Pickett / Mark D Baldwin / Andy, https://b17flyingfortress.de/, www.newspapers.com – The Kalamazoo Gazette - 29 September 1943
Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Andy / Mark D. Baldwin / Margaret Rorick Beach, www.newspapers.com – The Kalamazoo Gazette - 29 September 1943