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| B-17 co-pilot George DeVono flew the B-17 Touch the Button Nell 2. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/183752128 https://b17flyingfortress.de/en/b17/42-38117-touch-the-button-nell-ii/ |
George Joseph Devono never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
George was born on July 5, 1920 in Red Lion, Pennsylvania. His parents Frank and Armenia were both born in Italy and immigrated to the U.S. in 1901 and 1908 respectively. Frank worked as a tailor. George had two older brothers, two younger brothers, and a younger sister. He graduated from Dallastown High School and attended York Junior College. In 1940 Frank was living at home with his parents in Dallastown and working as a wood finisher. When he registered for the draft in February 1942, he was working for the York Ice Machinery Company in York, Pennsylvania.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in September 1942 and after flight training was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. He served in the 535th Bomb Squadron of the 381st Bomb Group, Eighth Air Force. The 381st was activated on 3 November 1942 and in May 1943 deployed to England, where it was based at RAF Ridgewell and operated B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers in missions over France and Germany.
According to the 535th squadron’s daily log, 2nd Lt. Devono joined the 381st as part of a replacement crew on 27 June 1944. He flew his first mission 4 July 1944, as co-pilot of B-17 42-38117, known as “Touch The Button Nell II”, assigned to bomb the La Riche airfield near Tours, France. The daily log states that there was neither flak nor enemy fighters encountered on the mission, and Lt. Devono’s plane was last seen in formation under control with all four engines operating, but failed to return to base. It was later determined that the aircraft crashed near the village of Persac, France. Lt. Devono was killed in action one day short of his 24th birthday, along with six other members of the crew. Two surviving crewmen were rescued by the French Resistance and eventually returned to action.
George Joseph Devono is buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Dallastown, Pennsylvania. A monument memorializing the crew is located at the crash site in France.
Thank you Lt. Devono for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for George.
This is one of the final 100 stories (61) to be written as part of this project which ends on September 2, 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. At that time more than 1,370 men and women will have been profiled. The project will live on in an expanded program to write the stories of all 400,000+ US World War II fallen. Visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org to learn more. We welcome your continued support and interest and encourage you to help write some of these stories.
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This profile was written by Bob Fuerst. "I’m a NASA engineer, B-17 Flying Fortress enthusiast, and amateur genealogist so this kind of research is an ideal outlet for me. But more than anything, it’s a way to express my sincere appreciation for The Greatest Generation and the sacrifices that they made, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They should never be forgotten and I’m grateful to Don for allowing me to play a small part in honoring them."
Last year on this date I profiled Brandon Nadeau of the 1st Marine Division. You can read about Brandon 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.
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George DeVono was my uncle, thank you so much for remembering him.
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