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| B-17 radio operator Sergeant Archie Snoddy served in the 303rd Bombardment Group. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122535030/archie-eugene-snoddy/photo |
Archie Eugene Snoddy never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on August 25, 1919 in Hot Springs, South Dakota. His parents Homer and Mae Belle were born in Iowa and Minnesota, respectively. His father worked as a farmer and after the depression started as a railroad laborer. Archie had one younger brother.
He enlisted in the army in May 1942 and volunteered to serve in the Army Air Forces. He was trained as a radioman and earned the rank of sergeant in the 351st Bombardment Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, which was equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses. The 303rd BG was one of the first heavy bomber units put into action in Europe, arriving in November 1942. Sgt. Snoddy was flying in action at least by July 1944. One month before that he married Ruth Mackey, a corporal in the army who taught radio skills to radio operators like Sgt. Snoddy.
It was sent out on its 229th mission of the war on August 15, 1944. The target was an airfield near Wiesbaden, Germany. Thirty-nine planes were dispatched and eleven planes returned with battle damage while another nine did not come back at all. This included Sgt. Snoddy in Hell in the Heavens. The bomber was attacked from behind by FW-190s. The pilot ordered everyone to bail out and the left wing caught fire. The copilot flew the plane for 10 more minutes and then bailed. The five men in the front of the plane survived as POWs. Sgt. Snoddy and the other four in the rear of the plane did not survive. The plane crashed near Koblenz Germany.
He was originally reported missing in action. In November 1944 his young brother Lee, serving in the army, was also reported missing in action. Lee survived being a POW, came home and lived until 2005. It would not be until the war was over that his parents learned that Archie had not survived.
His grave is at Bear Butte Cemetery in Sturgis, South Dakota. I don't know what happened to his widow.
Last year on this date I profiled double Navy Cross hero Francis Fagan, 2rd Marine Division who fought at Iwo Jima. 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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