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| Lt. John Suchiu was the pilot of the B-24 Lady Lightning. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59124946/john-suchiu http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/7981 |
John Suchiu never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on March 20, 1918 in Ohio. His parents Nick and Mary were both born in Rumanian speaking Hungry. His father worked as a soft drink merchant and later as a baker. John had one older sister and two younger brothers who both served in the army during the war. By 1940 John had completed two years of high school and was still living at home.
He enlisted in the army on September 23, 1941. He volunteered for the Army Air Forces and despite what appears to be a lack of any college attendance, he became a first lieutenant in the 787th Bombardment Squadron, 466th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force which was equipped with B-24 Liberators. It began operations out of Attlebridge England in March 1944.
On August 14, 1944 Lt. Suchiu was piloting the B-24 Lady Lightning on a mission to bomb Vechta Airfield. On the flight back it was shot down by German fighters over Holland. Lt. Suchiu and three other of the crew were killed. Five men were captured and one man was able to evade the Germans and return to England.
His grave is at Pineview Memorial Park in Warren, Ohio.
Last year on this date I profiled Ernest Carey, 2nd Marine Division in Saipan. You can read about Ernest 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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