Bell DeWitt Talmadge, Jr.

Name:

DeWitt Talmadge, Jr. Bell

Rank:

Second Lieutenant

Serial Number:

O-810461

Unit:

361st Fighter Squadron, 356th Fighter Group

Date of Death:

1944-03-20

State:

Georgia

Cemetery:

Macon Memorial Park, Macon, Bibb County, Georgia

Plot:

Section L

Row:

Lot 99

Grave:

3

Decoration:

Purple Heart

Comments:

DeWitt Talmadge Bell, Jr. was born on November 14, 1920, in Alabama. He was the son of Dewitt Talmadge Bell and Julia Jarrard Bell.

Dewitt, Jr. served in the 361st Fighter Squadron, 356th Fighter Group, as a Second Lieutenant and Fighter Pilot during World War II.

On the support mission to Frankfurt, Germany, on March 20, 1944, in P-47D #42-75553, the 361st Squadron encountered extremely adverse weather, and the mission was abandoned. Upon letting down in the Brussels, Belgium area, Lt. Bell and his leader, Capt. Porter, started a strafing pass on an airfield. The last seen of Lt. Bell was at the start of the pass. Capt. Porter was shot down and made a prisoner by the Germans, who informed him that Lt. Bell went down. He was determined dead on December 28, 1944, and his status was changed to KIA.

2Lt Bell is now buried in the Macon Memorial Park, Macon, Bibb County, Georgia, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.americanairmuseum.com