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| Lt. Thomas Anthony was a B-17 co-piolt in the 547th Bombardment Squadron. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37204122&ref=acom https://wwii-bombers.tumblr.com/post/146435210611/aerial-view-boeing-b-17g-95-bo-flying-fortress |
Thomas J. Anthony never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on October 30, 1917 in Ohio. His father also born in Ohio, while his mother was from Pennsylvania. His father worked as a bank cashier. Thomas had two older brothers, two older sisters, two younger brothers and one younger sister. All of his brothers, except the oldest one, served in the military during WW2.
Thomas enlisted in the army on August 26, 1942. He became a first lieutenant in the 547th Bombardment Squadron, 384th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force. The 384th BG was equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses and arrived in England in May 1943. Lt. Anthony joined his bomb squadron on June 22, 1944 in the role of a co-pilot. He completed 8 mission over the next few weeks.
His ninth and final mission was on July 16, 1944 when his bomb squadron was part of a bombing mission to hit an airplane engine factory in Munich. His plane was disabled by flak and exploded in mid-air, crashing southwest of Munich. It was the only plane lost on that mission. Five of the airmen onboard survived and became POWs. The other five, including Lt. Anthony were killed.
His grave is at Saint Mary Cemetery in Fort Recovery, Ohio.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
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