Name:
William Edward Abel
Rank:
Staff Sergeant
Serial Number:
36440823
Unit:
866th Bomber Squadron, 494th Bomb Group
Date of Death:
2006-09-06
State:
Colorado
Cemetery:
Mountain View Cemetery, Longmont, Boulder County, Colorado, USA
Plot:
Block34 SW1/2 Lot37
Row:
Grave:
Decoration:
Comments:
Tail gunner of the B-24 “Lonesome Lady” which took off from Yontan Airfield, Okinawa on 28 July 1945 on a bombing mission against the Japanese battleship Haruna anchored in Kure Harbor by Hiroshima. After dropping their bombs, the plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire and went into a vertical dive, crashing in a field near the town of Ikachi. The entire crew was able to bail out. Abel was the first out the door, so landed far from the others. He was captured and taken to Kure where he was interned and survived the war. He retired from the service in 1968.