Willard Walton Stanton was born at Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado about July 1915. His family called him Walton. His parents were Orris Willard Stanton (Aug 1880 – 1961), who was born in Nebraska; and Mary Catherine Stanton (15 May 1888 – Sep 1979), who was born in Iowa. His father lived in Colorado Springs by 1900. At that time, Orris Stanton lived with his parents at 12 Rio Grande in Colorado Springs, and worked as a blacksmith. Orris and Mary Stanton married about 1912.

He had a sister, Mary Mildred (Stanton) Clifford (called Mildred) (abt 1913 – unk), and a brother, Thomas B. Stanton (abt 1925 – unk), who were born in Colorado Springs. In 1920 the family lived at 512 W Kiowa Street in Colorado Springs; by 1930 they lived at 832 North Spruce Street; and by 1940 they lived at 1609 Tejon Street. By 1920 his father was an automobile mechanic and gas station attendant.

He graduated from Saint Mary's High School in Colorado Springs, and worked as a billing clerk for the city utilities company. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 9, 1942. His home of record at that time was 219 North Wahsatch Avenue, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado.

He completed Army Air Forces flight engineer and aerial gunnery training, and was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Joseph M. Sugarman Jr. The Sugarman crew completed B-17 operational training in the States, and deployed to England. The crew was assigned to the 839th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. The Sugarman crew arrived at Station 137 by February 13, 1945, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.

On March 11, 1945, the 487th Bomb Group dispatched forty aircraft to bomb an industrial area and shipyards on the south bank of the Elbe River in Hamburg, Germany. This was the fifth combat mission for the Sugarman crew.

S/Sgt Stanton and eight of his crew mates were killed in action on March 11, 1945, when their aircraft, B-17G 43-38888, was shot down by flak at Hamburg, Germany. The aircraft crashed at 1310 hours near Meckelfeld, about 20 kilometers south of Hamburg. One man, radio operator T/Sgt Harvey F. Schlotte, survived and became a prisoner of war. The dead were buried initially at the cemetery in Sinstorf, a southern suburb of Hamburg.

After the war, S/Sgt Stanton's remains were reinterred at Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium.

B-17G 43-38888 crew:
• Sugarman Jr, Joseph M – 1/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Crosland Jr, William S – F/O – Copilot – KIA
• Barnett, James S – F/O – Navigator – KIA
• Owen, Charles V – Sgt – Togglier – KIA
• Stanton, Willard W – S/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Schlotte, Harvey F – T/Sgt – Radio Operator – POW
• Mau, Eldon A – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – KIA
• Yaegle, Clyde L – S/Sgt – Waist Gunner – KIA
• Berger, Robert M – Sgt – Waist Gunner – KIA
• Simac, Edward A – Sgt – Tail Gunner – KIA

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com