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Personal info

Full name
WRIGHT, Kenneth E
Date of birth
1921
Age
unknown
Place of birth
Maryland
Hometown
Takoma Park, Montgomery County, Maryland

Military service

Service number
20383070
Rank
Sergeant
Function
Engineer/Top Turret Gunner
Unit
351st Bombardment Squadron,
100th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
3 April 1945
Place of death
Den Hoorn, Texel, the Netherlands

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
G 13 15

Immediate family

Members
Eugene Wright (father)
Hattie M. (Bryant) Wright (mother)
Lillian M. Wright (sister)
Edward H. Wright (brother)
Rachel E. Wright (sister)
Gladys Wright (sister)
Nona L. (Tippie) Wright (wife)

Plane data

Serial number
43-38992
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Kiel, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the U-boat base
MACR: 13717

More information

Sgt Kenneth E. Wright was an architect before he joined the Air Corps of the National Guard in Washington, District of Columbia on 6 January 1941.

1st Lt Charles B. Clancy Jr.:
On 3 April 1945, we were returning from Kiel mission when it was discovered we were running out of gas, so we headed for Belgium. While enroute and over first Frisian Island off Peninsula of Holland, flying at an altitude of 5,000 feet, we were hit be flak destroying two engines and setting the plane on fire.
Sgts Weber, Goodwin and myself bailed out, and the plane was seen going into a dive exploding, just before it hit the ground. Sgt Weber and myself hit water and were later taken prisoners by the Germans. Sgt Randolph A. Goodwin landed on the first Frisian Island and shed his chute and flying boots. These were later shown to us by the Germans with a comment that Sgt Goodwin was dead. The Germans at the same time showed us the seven pairs of twisted and burned dog tags of remaining members of the crew with a statement that there were all dead.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / Havenner Family Tree / 1940 Census, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.findagrave.com – MAJ Jimmy Cotton / Russ Pickett

Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Denise Kellam / Hudson Louie