WW2 Fallen - B-29 co-pilot Francis Lougee + famous writer

Lt. Francis Lougee served in the 499th Bombardment Group depicted in this painting by Robert Taylor.
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=22104565&ref=acom
https://sceptre63.deviantart.com/art/wall-paper-B29-P51-112098895 

Francis Gilman Lougee never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

He was born on October 8, 1917 in Connecticut. His parents were also both born in Connecticut. His father worked as a carpenter. Francis had four younger sisters. 

He enlisted in the Army Air Forces as a private on August 7, 1942. He went to flight school and was assigned to learn to fly B-29 Superfortesses. He became a second lieutenant in the 878th Bombardment Squadron, 499th Bombardment Group stationed in Saipan by October 1944.

On December 18, 1944 Lt. Lougee was on a bombing mission as part of a group of 89 bombers tasked with bombing the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Company aircraft industry plants near Nagoya, Japan.  His plane was hit by enemy fighter planes damaging the #2 engine, causing it to wingover into a steep dive. It was last seen entering a cloud bank chased by two Japanese fighters. The plane crashed into the sea and the entire crew was lost.

Lt. Lougee is remembered at the Honolulu Memorial Court of the Missing. He also has a cenotaph gravestone at Arlington National Cemetery.

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

Walter Lord

Anyone who loves history books should recognize the name Walter Lord.

He was born October 8, 1917 in Maryland. He graduated from Princeton in 1939 having studied history. He next attended Yale Law School but quit to join the army after Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to the OSS in London and rose to position of the agency's secretariat. After the war he completed his law degree.

https://gilmanschool.wordpress.com/2014/04/11/the-unsinkable-walter-lord/
https://openroadmedia.com/contributor/walter-lord/

His writing first garnered great attention with his book A Night to Remember about the sinking of the Titanic. His highly readable style brought him continued bestseller success 10 more times including many books about World War 2 including Day of Infamy about Pearl Harbor, Incredible Victory about Midway, and The Miracle of Dunkirk which is enjoying renewed interest due to the recent Dunkirk movie.

He died in 2002.

There are doubtless many amazing stories that will forever go untold because the writer never came home.

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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