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| Sgt. William Whitt and the crew of the B-17 Stump Jumper. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=43717432&ref=acom http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/229972 |
William Fuqua Whitt never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on October 17, 1917 in Virginia. His parents were also both born in Virginia. His father worked as a pipe shop crane man and later as a gardener. By 1940 he was working as a cemetery caretaker. William had one sister and was the youngest of eight boys. By 1940 William had completed three years of high school and was working as a pressing and cleaning shop deliveryman.
He enlisted in the army on June 30, 1942. He became a staff sergeant in the 526th Bombardment Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, which was equipped with B-17s.
On June 19, 1944 Sgt. Whitt was the ball turret gunner on the B-17 nicknamed Stump Jumper on a mission to bomb V-1 buzz bomb launch sites near Zudausques, France. Stump Jumper was downed by flak before it reached the target. Sgt. Whitt was killed. I think the rest of the crew survived.
His grave is at West View Cemetery in Radford, Virginia. I don't know if that was the same cemetery where his father was the caretaker.
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.
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
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