Tuesday, March 12, 2019

WW2 Fallen- B-24 pilot Endicott Lovell and his B-17 pilot brother James

Brothers Endicott and James Lovell were both bomber pilots for the 8th Air Force.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/159724982/endicott-remington-lovell
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/140345676/james-macnaughton-lovell
Endicott Remington Lovell, Jr. never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

He was born on March 12, 1919 in Calumet, Michigan. His parents Endicott and Martha were born in Mexico and Michigan, respectively. His father worked as a copper smelter assistant supervisor and later was the president of Calumet and Hecla Consolidated Copper Company and a board of control member at Michigan College of Mining and Technology. Endicott had two younger brothers. By 1940 he had completed one year of college at Yale University.

After completing a second year at Yale, he enlisted in the Army Air Forces on January 12, 1942. He was accepted to officers candidate school and was trained to become a pilot as a first lieutenant in the 755th Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, which was equipped with B-24 Liberators. Younger brother James also became a bomber pilot, serving with the 545th Bombardment Squadron, 384th Bombardment Group, which was equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses.

James started flying combat missions in December 1943. On March 19, 1944, Lt. Lovell took off on his fifteenth and final mission, flying a B-17 nicknamed Lovell's Hovel. The target that day was V-1 and V-2 launch sites in France. His plane was hit by flak after releasing its bombs. While some of the crew survived and ended up prisoners of war, Lt. Lovell and three others did not.

Endicott would have heard that his brothers plane was lost, but he may not have learned of his death. On May 8, 1944 he was flying a B-24 nicknamed Gypsy Queen on a mission to Germany. His plane was attacked by a German fighter and exploded in midair. Five men managed to survive as prisoners of war, but Lt. Lovell was killed in action.

Endicott and James are buried side by side at Lake View Cemetery, Calumet, Michigan.

Thank you Endicott and James for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for the Lovell brothers.

Last year on this date I profiled escaped POW Wesley Jordan. You can read about Wesley 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.

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WW2 Fallen 100 is supported by

The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation

“Where Every Day is Memorial Day”

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