WW2 Fallen - B-17 pilot Earl Armstrong

B-17 pilot Lt. Earl Armstrong and the crew of Hap's Hazard.
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=18482966&PIpi=76515100

Earl M. Armstrong never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

He was born on October 12, 1917 in Illinois. His mother was also born in Illinois and his father was born in Wisconsin. His father died in 1918, perhaps from influenza that was sweeping the world. Earl had an older brother and sister. His mother and the children lived with her parents. By 1930 she had remarried. Earl's stepdad worked as a road laborer. By 1940 Earl had completed four years of high school and was still living at home. On September 19, 1941 he married Dorothy Littleton in Texarkana, Arkansas. They had son who was six months old at the time of Earl's death. He may have never seen him.

He left a job working as a driver when he enlisted in the army on April 14, 1942. At some point he volunteered for the Army Air Forces and became a B-17 pilot and second lieutenant in the 571st Bombardment Squadron, 390th Bombardment Group.

Lt. Armstrong flew on 13 bombing missions beginning in early May 1944. His final mission was the day before D-Day on June 5, 1944 -- a bombing run just over the channel to Bolougne in the plane Hap's Hazard. It was brought down by a flak explosion in the bomb bay area of the plane. Eight men were able to bail out (and were captured), but Lt. Armstrong and the ball turret gunner crashed with the plane near Dargniers, France and were killed.

His grave is at Rockton Township Cemetery in Illinois. His widow remarried and died in 2013. I don't know what happened to his boy.

Thank you Earl for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Earl.

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.

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