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| Lyle Poitras flew P-39 Airacobras for the 350th Fighter Group. http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/150260-345th-fighter-squadron-pilot-kia-grouping/page-2 https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/121652635/lyle-william-poitras |
Lyle William Poitras never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on August 17, 1918 in the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. His parents Leon and Josephine were also both born in South Dakota. They were Native Americans. His father worked as a harness maker and died in 1938. Lyle had two older brothers, three older sisters and one younger sister. By 1940 he had moved 300 miles away from home to Dewey, SD where he was a lodger working as a rodman. He had completed one year of college.
He joined the army on January 18, 1941 and volunteered for the Army Air Forces where he was assessed as having the skills needed to be a fighter pilot. He became a flight officer in the 345th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force which was equipped with P-39 Airacobras.
The 350th FG planes performed patrol and interception missions, sortied to protect convoys, escorted aircraft, flew recon, engaged in interdictions and provided close air support to ground forces in the Mediterranean Theater. By February 1944 it was operating from a base in Corsica.
Flight Officer Poitras was killed in action over Sardinia on April 23, 1944.
His grave is at Timber Lake Cemetery in Timber Lake, South Dakota.
Last year on this date I profiled one of the Bedford Boys, Clifton Lee, 29th Infantry Division, who died on Omaha Beach on D-Day. You can read about Clifton 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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