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| Lt. Marion Elliott served with the 395th Fighter Squadron while in England and France. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87463401/marion-w_l_-elliott http://www.368thfightergroup.com/395-photo-e-g-w.html |
Marion W. L. Elliott never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on October 5, 1919 in Oklahoma. His parents Thomas and Maud were born in Missouri and Oklahoma, respectively. His father worked as a post office clerk. Marion had one younger brother. By 1940 Marion was still living at home and had completed two years of college. He married Ruthela Deal in 1940. They had one son.
He volunteered for the Army Air Forces in January 1942. At first he was a flight instructor. He eventually became a first lieutenant in the 395th Fighter Squadron, 368th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force. The 368th FG was equipped with P-47 Thunderbolts. Lt. Elliott was sent to England in April 1944.
The 368th FG was charged with straffing and bombing targets in support of the Allied Normandy invasion. After the successful landing, the P-47s flew missions to stop the Germans from supplying their frontline troops. First based in England, by June it was based in France.
The station for the 395th FS moved forward to Chievres, Belgium on October 2, 1944. Three days later, Lt. Elliott celebrated his 25th birthday. Lt. Elliott was killed on October 13, 1944 when his plane was shot down by an enemy fighter while on a mission over Gierath, Germany.
His grave is at Fairland Cemetery in Fairland, Oklahoma. His widow remarried and died in 2016.
Last year on this date I profiled Pearl Harbor fallen Dean Wheeler. You can read about Dean 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
The list of heroes is long and solemn.
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