 |
| Sgt. Hyrum Spencer was a B-17 tail gunner in the 95th Bombardment Group that operated from England. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9306517/hyrum-lamar-spencer https://95thbg.org/j3migr/95thbg-aircraft/95th-b-17-s-1944 |
Hyrum Lamar Spencer never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on October 28, 1919 in Aurora, Utah. His parents Austin and Hannah were born in Utah and Arizona, respectively. His father worked as a farm laborer and later as a farmer. Hyrum had three older sisters, three older brothers, three younger brothers, and one younger sister. He graduated from high school in 1937 and attended one year of college.
He married Glenda Winget on May 23, 1940 and worked at an air products company. Their first son died in a tragic drowning accident after falling from a bridge over a creek. Coming home from work to search for his missing son, Hyrum found his body two hours after the accident. A second son was born just before Hyrum was drafted into the army.
He was drafted into the army on January 6, 1944. He volunteered for the Army Air Forces and became a sergeant and tail gunner in the 334th Bombardment Squadron, 95th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, which was equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses. After training, his crew was sent to England in October 1944.
Sgt. Spencer's tenth and final mission was on December 31, 1944. The target that day was Hamburg, Germany. When his bomber failed to return, he was reported as missing in action. The family would not learn of his fate until March 1945. After action reports show that two planes were lost that day. Sgt. Spencer and two other crewman were killed when his plane was shot down by enemy fighters. The remaining men bailed out and became POWs.
His grave is at Aurora Cemetery in Aurora, Utah. His widow remarried and died in 2010. His youngest son could very well still be alive.
Sgt. Spencer's story can also be found at https://www.fold3.com/page/638678114-hyrum-l-spencer/stories. It is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project, Utah pilot.
Last year on this date I profiled C-47 flyer Kenneth Havlerson. You can read about Kenneth 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
No comments:
Post a Comment