World War II Honoree

Charles D. Atkins, Jr.

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Brooklyn, New York

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

RANK: STAFF SERGEANT. HE WAS INDUCTED INTO THE UNITED STATES ARMY AIR CORPS AUGUST 28, 1942 AT NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK. SERVED AS A B-17F ‘FLYING FORTRESS’ BOMBER BALL TURRET GUNNER, WHO EXPERIENCED COMBAT IN THE EUROPEAN AND MEDITERRANEAN THEATERS OF OPERATION. HIS COMBAT UNIT WAS THE 341ST BOMBER SQUADRON, 97TH BOMBER GROUP, UNITED STATES 15TH ARMY AIR FORCE, STATIONED AT DEPIENNE AIRFIELD, TUNISIA NORTH AFRICA. ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1943 HE WAS KILLED IN ACTION DURING A BOMBING RAID ON THE ISTRES-LE-TUBE GERMAN AIRDROME, LOCATED NEAR MARSEILLES, FRANCE. WHILE THE PILOT WAS MAKING A SECOND PASS OVER THE TARGET, THE ‘FLYING FORTRESS’ WAS HIT BY ANTI-AIRCRAFT ARTILLERY FIRE AND CRASHED INTO LAKE LAVALDUC. HIS REMAINS WERE RECOVERED ‘EXACT DATE UNKNOWN’, AND WERE BURIED IN AN UNKNOWN CEMETERY. IN THE LATE POSTWAR ERA, HE WAS RETURNED TO HIS COUNTRY AND FAMILY WITH MILITARY HONORS. INTERMENT WAS IN THE ZACHARY TAYLOR NATIONAL CEMETERY, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY ON APRIL 24, 1952. A MEMORIAL, COMMEMORATING THE MEMORY OF THE CREW AND THE B-17 ‘HOMESICK ANGEL’ HAS BEEN ERECTED IN ISTRES-LE-TUBE, FRANCE.