Wendell Joseph C.

Name:

Joseph C. Wendell

Rank:

Staff Sergeant

Serial Number:

39313370

Unit:

422nd Bomber Squadron, 305th Bomber Group, Heavy

Date of Death:

1943-07-14

State:

Oregon

Cemetery:

Epinal American Cemetery, Epinal, France

Plot:

A

Row:

5

Grave:

33

Decoration:

Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart

Comments:

Joseph C. Wendell was born in 1912 in Oregon. He resided in Multnomah County, Oregon prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army on July 25, 1942 in Portland, Oregon. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed in the manufacture of miscellaneous finished lumber products and also as Single, without dependents.

SSgt Wendell was the belly gunner of the B-17 42-3049 “Windy City Challenger”, which took off from station 105 in Chelveston, Northamptonshire, UK on a bombing mission over Villacoublay. Two German FW-190 fighters came at the plane around 10000 feet at 0820. Their fire killed seven of the eleven crew members, their bodies trapped in the wreckage of the exploded plane. The other four managed to bail out and opened their parachutes at 1000 feet. Wendell died in the crash.