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| Sgt. Clarence Gallamore was a B-17 waist gunner killed on the first mission of the 379th Bomb Group. http://www.afcent.af.mil/Units/379th-Air-Expeditionary-Wing/News/Display/Article/351584/historian-highlights-heritage-of-379th-aew/ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76460342/clarence-ernest-gallamore http://www.uswarmemorials.org/admin/images/memorials/1398190650Crach%20monument.jpg |
Clarence Ernest Gallamore, Jr. never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on August 3, 1918 in Florida. His parents Clarence and Grace were born in Illinois and Nebraska, respectively. His father worked as a cafe cook while he and his family lived in Oklahoma in 1920. He owned his own cafe in South Dakota by 1930. Clarence had two younger brothers. By 1940 the family had moved to Wyoming. Clarence complete a grammar school level of education and worked as a driver.
He was drafted in the army on April 1, 1942. He volunteered to serve in the Army Air Forces and became a staff sergeant and waist gunner in the 526th Bombardment Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, which was equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses.
The 379th BG began operations in England on May 19, 1943.
Sgt. Gallamore flew on the very first combat mission on May 29, 1943 to bomb U-Boat pens in St. Nazaire, France. His bomber, Up & At 'Em, along with two others, were shot down by AA fire and German fighter planes. Sgt Gallamore was killed in action when he crashed with the plane. Three of his crew survived as POWs. The 379th BG would lose another 140 bombers by the time it flew its 330th and final mission on April 25, 1945.
His grave is at Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery in Phoenix, Arizona.
JAMES MACGREGOR BURNS
Also born on the same day as Clarence Gallamore was the prolific historian James MacGragor Burns. Burns grew up in Massachusetts where he attended college at Williams College. After being drafted into the army, Burns was sent to the Pacific Theater where he served as an enlisted US Army combat historian. He earned a Bronze Star and four Battle Stars.
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| Burns with President Kennedy. http://www.wamc.org/post/panel-discussion-honors-pulitizer-winning-williams-college-professor |
After the war he earned a PhD from Harvard University and then taught at Williams College for 40 years. He received the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for his book Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom. He wrote more than 20 books with many of them focused on government and leadership, a writing career that spanned more than 60 years.
Burns died in 2014.
Last year on this date I profiled B-24 navigator Francis Moke, who died on D-Day. You can read about Francis 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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