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| P-47 pilot Lt. Gus Girlinghouse served with the 366th Fighter Group in France and Belgium. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32803382/gus-newman-girlinghouse http://www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/313 |
Gus Newman Girlinghouse, Jr. never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on December 4, 1919 in Louisiana. His parents Gus and Ann were also both born in Louisiana. His father worked in property construction for the US Veterans Administration. Gus had a younger brother and sister. By 1940 Gus was still living at home and had completed three years of college where he participated in ROTC. He graduated from Louisiana State University in 1941, having studied agriculture, after which he joined the Army. He married Alleene Rylee in May 1942.
He enlisted in the US Army in 1941. He became a first lieutenant in the 391st Fighter Squadron, 366th Fighter Group which was equipped with P-47 Thunderbolts. His unit arrived in England in January 1944. Lt. Girlinghouse earned his wings in February so he joined his squadron as a replacement later in 1944. Once it became operational in March, the 366th FG's main focus was ground attacks to destroy motor convoys and gun emplacements to disrupt the German defenses in France. By October, the 366th had moved its base of operations to Axshe, Belgium.
Lt. Girlinghouse was reported missing on November 17, 1944 when he and two other pilots failed to return from their missions that day. At some point later Lt. Girlinghouse was confirmed as killed in action.
UPDATE: Reader Martin Cooper pointed out that there is a website where you can read about Lt. Girlinghouse's final mission. Go to https://quentinaanenson.com/stories.html
His grave is at Heard Cemetery in Manifest, Louisiana. I don't know what happened to his widow.
Last year on this date I profiled Medal of Honor hero William Shockley, 32nd Infantry Division. You can read about William 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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