Monroe A. Atchley was born on December 7, 1910, in Kentucky. He was the son of Sam Rufus Atchley and Mattie Bell Cowles Atchley. He enlisted on January 9, 1943, and served in the 2033rd Engineers Fire Platoon.

The crash of the B-24H #42-95160 was the incident that resulted in the deaths of Sgt. Monroe Atchley and Private Ted Bunalski, both members of the 2033rd Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon. In the late afternoon, a formation of 492nd Bomb Group planes was assembling for a late attack over Europe in the general area south and east of Shipdham airfield. The time was 1720 hours. At an altitude of 17,000 feet, Lt. Frank Haag saw Lt. Sachtleben suddenly make a steep bank to avoid a collision. The other plane, not identified, also made a steep climbing turn. Lt. Sachtleben stalled, fell off on his left wing, and went down through the overcast. The aircraft was reported to have made a one or one-and-a-half-turn spin, leveling off on its back similar to a pursuit dive. No further observations could be made. This aircraft, 44-40160, crashed into an unoccupied house near Garveston.

Sgt. Atchley and Pvt. Bunalski were off duty and eating supper when they heard men yelling that a plane had crashed. They left their meals, ran out on the road, and jumped on the first fire truck going to the fire. Upon their arrival at the crashed plane, they proceeded to extinguish the flames, disregarding the danger of bombs going off and a gas tank that was burning and full of gasoline. When one or more of the bombs exploded, both of these men were killed. They both were awarded the Soldier Medal posthumously.

Sgt Monroe is now buried in the Boiling Springs Church of Christ Cemetery, Warren County, Kentucky, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com