WW2 Fallen - Bronze Star hero and P-38 pilot Harlan Fricke

Lt. Harlan Fricke earned the Bronze Star while serving with the 7th Photo Recon Group in England.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16171174/harlan-f_-fricke
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chalgrove_Airfield_-_7th_Reconnaissance_Group_-_F-5_Lightning_taxxing.jpg 

Harlan Frederick Fricke never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

If you have enjoyed reading the stories of the WW2 fallen, Can you help write some stories? It's a big project. The more help, the better.  Announcing "The Stories Behind the Stars", see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org. This crowd-sourced national project has the goal of compiling stories of all 400,000+ of the US World War 2 fallen in one free-to-access central database.  Anyone visiting a war memorial or gravesite will be able to scan the name of the fallen with a smartphone and his story will appear on the phone.

He was born on April 10, 1920 in Garnerville, Nevada. His parents Fred and Alma were also both born in Nevada. His father worked as a farm laborer and later as a farmer. Harlan had three younger brothers. By 1940 Harlan was still living at home. He had completed one year of college. He graduated from UC Davis and became an assistant county agent in Yerington.

He enlisted in the Army Air Forces in January 1942 and got his wings in August. He became a first lieutenant in the 14th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Photo Reconnaissance Group which was equipped with F-5 / P-38 Lightnings. He married Lela Sciarani in November 1942. 

The 7th PRG was sent to England in July 1943. It flew photo recon missions in France to obtain maps needed for bomb target planning and preparation for the Normandy invasion. Lt. Fricke was the subject of an article in a hometown paper in November 1943. It reported he had been cited for courage. 

Lt. Fricke was killed on a recon mission whiling flying back to base on December 11, 1943. He left behind a son. One source says he earned a Bronze Star but I was not able to find a citation.

His grave is at the Gardnerville Cemetery in Gardnerville, Nevada. His widow remarried and died in 2016.

Thank you Lt. Fricke for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Harlan.

Last year on this date I profiled Normandy fallen William Culp, 28th Infantry Division. You can read about William 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”

http://www.tggf.org