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| Sgt. Peter Mrjenovich was a B-17 tail gunner in the 390th Bombardment Group. The two photos show his bomber Phoenix falling in the distance. The broken off tail is in the lower frame. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/151894720/peter-mrjenovich http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/6377 |
Peter Mrjenovich never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on July 11, 1918 in Illinois. His parents Joseph and Sahra were both born in Slovenian speaking Yugoslavia. His father worked as a steel mill foreman. Peter had an older brother and sister, two younger brothers, and two younger sisters. Peter completed one year of college and also worked as a smelter furnaceman.
He was drafted in the army on September 12, 1942. He volunteered to serve in the Army Air Forces and became a staff sergeant and tail gunner in the 569th Bombardment Squadron, 390th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, which was equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses.The 390th BG arrived in England at the end of July 1943 and began flying missions on August 12.
Sgt. Mrjenovich was on his second mission on August 15, 1943 in the tail gunner position on the B-17 Phoenix. The target that day was Vitry-en-Artois in France. After dropping its bombs, Phoenix collided with another B-17 over Calais and crashed. The photos above shows Phoenix missing its tail in one frame and the tail in the other. The other bomber made it back. Sgt. Mrjenovich was one of five men killed. One was captured and the other four escaped back to England.
He was reported missing in action in the papers back home in September and his death was confirmed one year later.
His grave is at Cedar Park Cemetery in Calumet Park, Illinois.
Last year on this date I profiled Roger Scamman, USS Aulick. You can read about Roger here.
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.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
God bless them all.
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