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| Lt. Gilbert Lawson was a navigator for the 301st Bombardment Group. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22049108/gilbert-g-lawson http://www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/251 |
Gilbert G. Lawson, Jr. never had a chance to reach 100 years old. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Last year I was not able to write a profile everyday from September to November because I was studying for the Certified Financial Planner test (I passed!). I feel my project to honor one U.S. serviceman for each day of the war would be incomplete if I left them off. As I have time, I am going back and adding profiles for the days I missed.
Gilbert was born on September 14, 1918 in Arkansas. His parents Gilbert and Mary were also both born in Arkansas. His father worked as a high school teacher. Gilbert had two younger brothers who both served in the war.
He volunteered for the Army Air Forces on December 3, 1941. He eventually became a second lieutenant and navigator in the 352nd Bombardment Squadron, 301st Bombardment Group, which was equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses. The 301st BG flew the first of its 464 combat missions from North Africa in November 1942. Lt. Lawson participated in at least 35 missions, bombing targets in Africa, Italy, Romania, Austria, and Germany. He was selected to be the navigator for General Jimmy Doolittle for a special flight through Italy and North Africa in December 1943.
The mission target for February 25, 1944 was Regensburg, Germany. The 301st BG lost two planes on that mission. One of them was plane number 42-31872 where Lt. Lawson was the navigator. He was buried in Germany and his body was sent home after the war.
His grave is at Greenwood Cemetery in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
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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