Memorial

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John G. Erickson attended college.


He enlisted in Hartford, Connecticut on 22 September 1942.

The aircraft was hit by flak and it blew up, both wings were blown off and the fuselage must have been broken in at least four pieces. Pieces of the aircraft were scattered all over the marshalling yard of Brussels.
Three crew members could bail out and were taken prisoner. Three men were killed. They were initially killed at the English section of the cemetery of Evere, Belgium.

S/Sgt Erickson was an Ordnance Ammunition NCO but flew as bombardier on this mission. He was not the regular bombardier and had only been with this crew two or three times over a period of a couple of months. He was in the nose of the plane when it was hit.

All the bombardiers left their parachute in the radio room because they always figured that they would have to go back that way to bail out. S/Sgt Erickson's chest pack was back in the radio room so he had no chance to get his parachute.