World War II Honoree

Burleigh E. Curtis

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Holliston, Massachusetts

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: First Lieutenant. Inducted into the United States Army April 17, 1942 at Boston, Massachusetts. Upon his graduation from recruit training, he was designated to attend the Flight Aviation Training Program. As a graduate of the Aviation Cadet program, he accepted his commission with the Rank of Second Lieutenant and Pilot Wings. He served as a P-47 ‘Thunderbolt’ Fighter Pilot, assigned to the 377th Fighter Squadron, 362nd Fighter Group, an element of the U.S. Ninth Army Air Forces. His unit was based at the Royal Air Force Station Headcorn Location: Headcorn, England. Saturday, June 10, 1944 he was reported missing in action while flying a combat mission in the Battle of Normandy, the invasion of Germany’s Fortress Europe, D-Day Tuesday, June 6, 1944. His name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at Brittany American Cemetery Location: St. James (Manche), France. In his Memory and Honor, a cenotaph memorial has been placed at the Chase Cemetery Windham Center, Maine. This American Patriot received the following decorations posthumously: Air Medal with seven Oak Leaf Clusters and the Purple Heart. The Air Medal was awarded to the Lieutenant for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight, and the Purple Heart for his Heroism and ultimate sacrifice.