78th Fighter Group
The Missing Man . . .
The" Missing Man" is a flight formation where the slot or number two position is left vacant. It is traditonally flown by a Group or Squadron in honor of fallen or missing comrades.
The following is a list of 78th Fighter Group pilots and ground personnel officially listed as killed or missing in action. This list is presented chronologically covering the period 1942 through 1945. It was compiled from information published in the "Eagles of Duxford", Garry L. Fry, Phalanx Publishing, 1991.
1942
2 Lt. Hubbell | 2 Lt. Sumner | 2 Lt..Baugh | Wendell Seppich
1943
Donald S. Beals | Henry L. Perry | Stephan L. White | Robert I. Ronning | LeRoy V. Dodd | Jack S. Sandmeier | Richard A. Murray | Ora R. Brown | Rudolfo H. Feril | Arman Peterson | Donald G. Jackson | James F. Byers | Jayson M. Smith | Robert F. Brower | Quentin Charlton | Carl E. Cross | Ralph E. Cormier | Melvin R. Wright | James C. P. Eastwood
1944
Arthur S. Granger | George T. Hartman | Major C. Leach | Melvin D. Putnam | Cifford B. Hahn | William F. Neel | Y.V. Jones | Donald E. Ludwig | Archie F. Daniels | Donald R. Morsch | William S. Swanson | Edward J. Downey | Grant M. Turley | George C. Maitland | Roy E. Wedell | Walter Tonkin | Albert B. Werder | Calvin Webb | Harvey L. Eakes | William H. Reese | Joseph W. Mundy | Charles W. Silsby | Martin G. O'Connell, Jr. | John P. Hartman | Phillip H. Hazelett | William S. Orvis, Jr. | James W. Wilkinson | John C. E. Steinwedel | Harry H. Just, Jr. | Robert L. Baker | William F. Hunt | Richard S. Kuehner | Daniel T. Loyd | Vincent J. Massa | William M. McDermott | Harold E. Stump | John C. Ramsey | Benjamin H. Hodges | Ollie E. Gibbs | Edward T. Kitley | Cleon W. Raese, Jr. | William Newton, III | Robert E. Mullins | Harry T. Lay | Norman D. Munson | John B. Putnam, Jr. | Martin H. Smith, Jr. | Ernest Taylor | Harold J. Morris | John J. Myler | Louis A. Dicks | Billy V. Smith | Charles M. Peal | Jack B. Miller | Robert N. Jones | Wayne T. Marsh | William M. Shoemaker | Louis F. Streb | Gray H. Doyle | Quince L. Brown | Kenneth L. Moore | Lawton Clark | William O. Lacy | Charles E. Parmelee | Eugene W. Wood | Dunstan D. Hartley | Dwight G. Belt | Robert D. Smith | Alan R. Jacobson | William G. Kelly | Troy L. Eggleston
1945
Gordon L. Weston | Herbert W. Elin | Gerald F. Boner | William E. Bradley | Merle V. Brendle | Charles L. Lyle | Wilbur J. Coss | Lucian J. Bibeau | Lloyd L. Eadline | Louis R. Musgrave | Charles R. O'Brien | Ernest V. Boehner | Roy D. Higgins | William D. Townsend | Louis R. Hereford | Robert K. Platt | Donald A. Bath | Jack D. Hodge | James A. Bolen | Ralph L. Bush | Paul S. Ostrander | Herbert A. Stinson | Manford O. Croy | Robert B. Holmes | Dorian Ledington | John R. Sole | Leonard P. Marshall | Edward J. Carroll
A Letter to St. Peter
....a poem by Elma Dean
Additional information, including the date of loss, casualty's rank, unit, location, aircraft data and brief details of the loss are compiled in the "Eagles of Duxford", Appendix 4, Garry L. Fry, Phalanx Publishing, 1991.
