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| Lt, Orlando Loera was a B-25 bombardier who served in the Mediterranean Theater. 1939 Arizona State Teachers College Yearbook, page 139. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/73780914/orlando-contreras-loera http://57thbombwing.com/340th_History/487th_History/6_Hist_Oct_1943.pdf |
Orlando Contreras Loera never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on August 7, 1919 in Arizona. His parents Jesus and Onesime were both born in Mexico. His father worked as a copper miner and later as an agricultural laborer. He died in 1936. Orlando had two older sisters and two older brothers. One of his sisters lived to be 100 years old. By 1940 Orlando was still living with his parents and had attended two years of college at Arizona State Teachers College where he played on the tennis team.
He volunteered for the Army Air Forces in January 1942. He became a first lieutenant and bombardier in the 487th Bombardment Squadron, 340th Bombardment Group, Twelfth Air Force, which was equipped with B-25 Mitchells. It began flying missions in the Mediterranean Theater in March 1943. It specialized in destroying bridges. By late August it was operating from an airbase in Catania, Sicily. Lt. Loera was considered one of the best bombardiers in the squadron.
On September 9, 1943, the 487th BS was given an assignment to bomb Avellino in a night attack, so takeoff was started at 0230. Lt. Loera's plane was the first to take off. It did not clear the trees at the end of the runway and crashed. The co-pilot was thrown clear of the crash and walked away, but the rest of the crew were killed, even though the bomb load did not explode.
His grave is at Evergreen Memorial Park in Tucson, Arizona.
Last year on this date I profiled Pvt. Frank Stelmok, who died on the SS Leopoldville when it was torpedoed on Christmas Eve 1944. Details were kept secret for decades. You can read about Frank 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
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