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| Captain Truman Jefferys earned the Silver Star while flying P-40s in China with the 74th Fighter Squadron. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46518781/truman-o-jeffreys |
Truman Oscar Jeffreys never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Truman was born on March 20, 1920 in Texas. His parents Robert and Eliza were also both born in Texas. His father worked as an oilfield foreman and later as a drayman and then a carpenter. Thomas had two older sisters, and one younger sister. By 1940 Truman had completed two years of college and was serving in the Army Air Corps.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in September 1939 and first served as a mechanic. By October 1941 he was a trained fighter pilot. While stationed in Florida in 1942, he married Bette Means. He reached the rank of captain in the 74th Fighter Squadron, 23rd Fighter Group, 14th Air Force, which was equipped with P-40 Warhawks. He was sent to China in September 1942. The 23rd FG saw action all over southeast and southwest Asia. The pilots were some of the first Americans to use fighters to fly bombing missions.
On July 23, 1943 he was credited with an aerial victory. During his time in China Captain Jeffreys earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and the Chinese Medal of the Clouds.
On August 20, 1943 his airfield in Kweilin came under attack of 15 Japanese Zeros. Captain Jeffreys was aloft at the time and engaged the enemy to the point it was not able to strafe the airfield. Captain Jefferys was killed during the engagement. For this action he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.
His citation said it part:
"Although flying at an unfavorable altitude, he repeatedly attacked the enemy (in an interception mission) against overwhelming odds and thus prevented the probable strafing attack on important ground installations. His aggressive attacks were characterized by great courage and a keen desire to bring destruction to the enemy."
His grave is at Northview Cemetery in Winter, Texas. I don't know what happened to his widow.
Last year on this date we profiled Normandy Medal of Honor hero Arthur DeFranzo,1st Infantry Division. You can read about Arthur 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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