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| Lt. John McGarry was the pilot of the B-17 Spirit of Flak Wolf in the 303rd Bombardment Group. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90827920/john-joseph-mcgarry |
John Joseph McGarry never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on July 8, 1919 in Michigan. His parents John and Blanche were also both born in Michigan. His father worked as a farmer and later as a furniture sawyer. Still later he worked as an upholsterer. John had two older sisters, three younger sisters, and a younger brother. In high school he was president of the aviation club. Before joining the army he worked at Walgreens.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in October 1938. John was trained as a B-17 pilot and became a first lieutenant in the 427th Bombardment Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force. By November 1942, the 303rd BG was one of the first bomb groups sent to fly bombing missions out of England. Lt. McGarry likely joined his squadron much later, perhaps in late 1943 or early 1944. He flew a total of 17 bombing missions.
On April 9, 1944, Lt. McGarry was the pilot of the B-17 nicknamed Spirit of Flak Wolf. The target that Easter Sunday was the Focke-Wolf aircraft factory in Marienburg, Germany. Shortly after takeoff, Spirit of Flak Wolf hit a tree that knocked off part of the tail stabilizer. Unable to gain control or gain altitude, the bomber hit another tree and crash. Lt. McGarry and five other crewmen were killed. Four men were thrown from the plane when it hit the ground and survived with serious burns and contusions.
His grave is at St. Andrews Catholic Cemetery in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Last year on this date I profiled combat engineer Horace Derrickson, who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. You can read about Horace 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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