Thomas Lynn Bell was born on September 11, 1922, in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah. He was the son of Clarence Lynn Bell and Laura Ethel McPhail Provonsha Young. He enlisted in the service on January 5, 1943. He served in the 786th Bomb Squadron, 466th Bomb Group, Heavy, as a First Lieutenant and Co-Pilot of B-24H #41-29449, nicknamed ''True Love'' during World War II.

On August 15, 1944, the B-24H Liberator True Love departed RAF Attlebridge in Norfolk, England, carrying a ten-man crew commanded by 1st Lt. John Simpson “Jack” Archer Jr. Their mission was to bomb the Luftwaffe airfield at Vechta in northwestern Germany. After completing the attack, the 466th Bombardment Group turned west for the return flight across the Netherlands. Near Havelte and Steenwijk, the formation was intercepted by approximately twenty to twenty-five German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. German records indicate that two groups of fighters attacked shortly after 1:00 p.m., catching part of the American formation without close fighter protection. A running air battle developed over Drenthe and Overijssel, scattering the B-24s. Within minutes, four Liberators from the 466th Bombardment Group were brought down in the area. During the battle, the gunners aboard True Love reportedly shot down two German fighters. Their success was brief, however, as the Liberator was struck in or near one of its fuel tanks, causing a catastrophic explosion. The aircraft broke apart in midair, scattering its engines, weapons, ammunition, equipment, and sections of the fuselage across fields in the Verlaatpolder, west of Zuidveen and south of Steenwijk. The Dutch loss register records the crash at approximately 1:30 p.m. Five of the ten crewmen were killed, while the other five escaped from the disintegrating aircraft.

1Lt Bell was killed in action and is now buried in the Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, San Mateo County, California, USA.

Sources of information: www.findagrave.com, drentheindeoorlog.nl, americanarchive.iwm.org.uk