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Personal info

Full name
BISSELL, John R
Date of birth
30 December 1907
Age
37
Place of birth
Cook County, Illinois
Hometown
Seattle, King County, Washington

Military service

Service number
T-126863
Rank
Flight Officer
Function
Pilot
Unit
82nd Squadron,
436th Troop Carrier Group
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
24 March 1945
Place of death
Landing Zone S
1.5 miles N of Wesel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
F 19 10

Immediate family

Members
Ethelbert Bissell (father)
Amy G. (Oswalt) Bissell (mother)
Clarence B. Bissell (brother)
Beulah Bissell (sister)
Frank Bissell (brother)
Marjorie E. Bissell (sister)
Helen E. Bissell (sister)
Bernice K. Bissell (wife)

More information

F/O John R. Bissell joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve in Seattle, Washington on 9 July 1942. He attended college for 1 year and worked as a yard landscaper and was married.

F/O John R. Bissell was KIA after he landed his glider on landing zone S during Operation Varsity.

He was first buried in a temporary grave at Margraten on 31 March 1945. He was disinterred on 2 August 1948 and his remains were prepared and placed in a casket on 19 August 1948. He was given his final resting place on 12 January 1949.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, John T. Gerlosky, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - 1910/1940 Census / Headstone and Interment Record / Cook County, Illinois, Birth Certificate Index / Pischer & Zenger & Sprague Family Tree, www.nara.gov - WWII Enlistment Records / 17th Airborne Division Historical Report of Operation Varsity, Book: The Last Drop, Operation Varsity March 24-25, 1945 by Stephen L. Wright, IDPF

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Arie-Jan van Hees, Feedback Glider Pilot Class 43 South Plains AAF Lubbock, Texas