Glenn Ralph Andrew Bergquist was born on June 20, 1920, in Stillwater, Washington County, Minnesota. He was the son of Franz Oscar "Francis" Bergquist and Alpha Jennie "Effie" Erlandson Bergquist. He attended Lincoln Junior High School and later Albuquerque High School, then studied at the University of New Mexico for two years.

From MacDill Army Airfield, he deployed overseas with his fully loaded B-24 bomber crew to their new assignment at RAF Tibenham, England. Serving with the U.S. Eighth Army Air Forces, he flew combat missions with the 445th Bomb Group (Heavy), 701st Bomb Squadron, as a lead radio operator. He began combat operations on December 13, 1943, participating in an attack on U-boat installations at Kiel, north of Hamburg. He later flew missions bombing the synthetic oil plants at Lützkendorf and industrial targets at Ehmen and Düneberg. He endured long combat sorties during the campaign against Germany’s aircraft industry in “Big Week,” from February 20 to 25, 1944. His crew also helped prepare for D-Day on June 6 by bombing airfields, V-weapon sites, and coastal defenses, and continued striking German positions through Operation Cobra and the late summer of 1944.

On September 27, 1944, B-24J #44-10490, known as “Jane” (sometimes recorded as “Big Jane”), was lost during the Eighth Air Force bombing mission against the Henschel industrial works at Kassel, Germany. During the operation, the 445th Bomb Group became separated from the main bomber stream and was heavily attacked by large numbers of German fighter aircraft. In the running battle that followed, B-24J 44-10490 was shot down and crashed near Lauchroden, Germany, in central Germany. The aircraft’s destruction proved catastrophic, with only the pilot surviving while the remaining crew members were killed.

TSgt Bergquist was Killed in Action and is now buried in the Sunset Memorial Park, Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, New Mexico, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.445bg.org