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Once in a lifetime find!


Cpl. Punishment
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Cpl. Punishment

So, my uncle was 1st Lt. Paul F. Sayre of the 90th Bomb Group 320th bomb squadron. He was KIA April 16th, 1943.

My family has his Purple heart and air medal grouping in our posession and not long ago, an almost identical grouping came up for sale from another 320th bomb squadron member who was killed April 16th as well. With a little research it was obvious that this medal group belonged to a crewmember of my Uncle's plane!

 

Long story short, I bought the medals from a fellow forum member and they arrived in the mail today!

 

I am so excited to reunite these two medal groupings! I need to research the man these medals belonged to as i would love to find his picture but here is what i got!

post-164911-0-68857600-1489457956_thumb.jpg

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Here is the rest of the crew of your uncle's plane, which was B-24 Serial Number 41-24077, and crashed on 4/16/43 :

 

Pilot 1st Lt Paul F. Sayre, O-438556 (MIA / KIA, BR) OH

Co-Pilot 2nd Lt James L White Jr., O-662847 (MIA / KIA, BR) Santa Barbara, CA

Bombardier 2nd Lt Robert l. Block O-728332 (MIA / KIA, BR) Chicago, IL

Navigator 2nd Lt Robert R Null, O-727650 (MIA / KIA, BR) Los Angeles, CA

Crew TSgt Earl E Godsey, 17028285 (MIA / KIA, BR) KS

Crew SSgt John P DeMartini, 39840907 (MIA / KIA , BR) CA

Crew TSgt Homer L. Bartlett, 15017791 (MIA / KIA, BR) WV

Crew SSgt Milton E. Barber, 39093956 (MIA / KIA, BR) MN

Crew SSgt Harold P. Hetelle, 16052683 (MIA / KIA, BR) IL

Crew Sgt Mark H. Briggs, 15059395 (MIA / KIA, BR) IN

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post-52851-0-46094300-1489485765_thumb.jpg

 

This is a photo from Ancestry. It's from a 1936 Culver Military Academy yearbook. His name was Marcus Hurd Briggs, but went by Mark. Born 30 Dec 1918 in Allen, Indiana to Robert Hurd Briggs and Esther Elizabeth Kennedy.

 

Buried in the Phillipines.

 

Sarge8

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To the CPL, both your uncle and Mr. Briggs were buried in the same cemetary that "Sarge 8" referred to, the Manila American Cemetary.

 

Your uncle was interred in Plot L, Row 6, Grave 106.

 

Mr. Briggs was interred in Plot D, Row 4, Grave 171.

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Garandomatic

Totally. Twice in one week, for cpl! His family friend was on the same plane as the owner of one of my favorite 8th AF uniforms.

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Cpl. Punishment

THANK YOU GUYS!!! Seriously!!!

 

I can't begin to tell you how lucky i feel to be able to reunite these medals. Its really such a moving experience and i would like to thank WAHOOMAN for making it happen.

 

I will be taking a trip up north to see my aunt in the near future and will get pictures of these medals with my uncle's medals, so stay tuned!

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Amazing and so lucky to put them together, yet so sad. There are memorials for both men on FindaGrave, although no photos of either man. Still worth a look and you can add info to the memorial. Thanks for posting this. Perhaps their was a crew photo taken at some time?

Lt. Paul F. Sayre-56766063

Sgt. Mark H. Briggs-56759144

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That is an awesome find, and my hat's off to you to reunite the memory of these two crew members, and to honor them here. I'm sure your uncle would be proud of you!

 

As a side note, they both made the ultimate sacrifice on the exact day, 12 years before I was born, April 16.

 

Thank you again, I really enjoyed your post.

 

Best wishes!

Joe

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