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| Lt. Donald Brent wasa B-24 pilot in the 445th Bombardment Group based in England. http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/43675 |
Donald Eugene Brent never had a chance to reach 100 years old. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
I began this project on January 1, 2017. It will conclude on September 2, 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War 2. During the intervening time, a different fallen serviceman was profiled every day on his 100th birthday. I have decided to round out the project by profiling one of the fallen born between December 7, 1916 and December 31, 1916. This will result in one of the fallen being profiled for every day America was engaged in World War 2. The total will be 1,366 men and women. That's enough for only 13 stars out of the 4,048 on the Freedom Wall of the World War II Memorial.
Donald was born on December 22, 1916 in Weiser, Idaho. His parents George and Jessie were both born in Indiana. His father worked as an automobile mechanic. Donald had one older brother and sister. By 1940 Donald had completed three years of high school. He was living with his older brother in Oregon and was working as a planing mill laborer.
He volunteered for the Army Air Forces and was trained to fly B-24 Liberators. By June 1943 he was promoted to second lieutenant. Also in 1943, he married Frances Hope Barber, whose first husband died in 1940. He ended up being assigned as a pilot in the 702nd Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group based in Tibenham, England.
He was the pilot of the B-24 42-50324 with the nickname Eileen on a mission to Germany on September 27, 1944. It was his thirty third mission. After dropping their bombs, the bombers that day were attacked by a swarm of up to 150 German fighter planes. Lt. Brent's plane was hit and he ordered everyone to bail. While three of the crew survived, Lt. Brent was killed when his chute failed to deploy. He was slated to return home after reaching 35 missions.
His grave is at Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium. His widow remarried and died in 2005.
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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