Tech Sgts Marino and Sunberg (B-17, 44-8276) Memoriał
Details:
At the north town entrance off the side of the road. Monument
An upright fieldstone with a marble inscribed plaque shaped in the form of an US Army Air Corps symbol; the memorial includes an information board.
The memorial remembers two crewman of the B-17 (44-8276), Technical Sgt. Leonard A. Marino and Tech. Sgt. John L. Sunberg, who were KIA on March 18, 1945 while on a mission to Berlin.
From the 487th Bomber Group website:
18-Mar-45-hit by flak 30 seconds before bombing. Two engines were lost. The bombs were jettisoned and the pilot headed for Poland, but the crew had to bail out at 10,000 ft. and landed in the area of Landsberg (Gorzow) and Massin (Mosina), Poland. Russian fighters strafed the airmen in descent and apparently killed two. The B-17 crashed in that vicinity.
The crew consisted of:
• Leon, Jack – 1/Lt – Pilot – Safe
• Polen, Robert C – 2/Lt – Copilot – Safe
• Shaw, Robert W – F/O – Bombardier – Safe
• Dolin, Leon – 2/Lt – Navigator – Safe
• Marino, Leonard A – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Sunberg, John L – T/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Hopkin, Rees W – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – Safe
• Moore, Ralph L – S/Sgt – Waist Gunner – Safe
• Beeson, John D – S/Sgt – Tail Gunner – Safe
Tech Sergeants Marino and Sundland are remembered on the Tablets of the Missing at the Netherlands American Memorial and Cemetry in Margraten, Netherlands.
Tech Sergeant Marino also lost his brother, SGT Joseph A. Marino, on June 11, 1944 while serving with the 147th Combat Engineer Battalion in France.
This memorial was dedicated in 2017.
Monument Text:
The inscriptions are in English and read:
In the center star:
GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN
KIA - Mosina
18 MARCH 1945
On the sides:
Sunberg, John L. TSGT
Unit: 487th Bomb Group
Born: 15 Nov 1921, Iowa
Marino, Leonard A. TSGT
Unit: 487th Bomb Grou
Born: 4 July 1914, Pennsylvania
Commemorates:
People:
Units:
487th Bomber Group, Heavy
837th Bomber Squadron, 487th Bomber Group, Heavy
8th Air Force
Wars:
WWII
Other images :
