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416th Bombardment Group (L) Capt. Richard Victor ("Dick") Miracle Pilot, O-026150 Killed In Action - Dec 26, 1944 668th Bombardment Squadron (L) |
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416th Bombardment Group (L) Capt. Richard Victor ("Dick") Miracle Pilot, O-026150 Killed In Action - Dec 26, 1944 668th Bombardment Squadron (L) |
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Born: 10-Apr-1919, Mount Gilead, Morrow County, Ohio
Entered Military Service: Date: 1-Jul-1939 At: USMA From: Morrow County, Ohio Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, Plot: Sec: 12, Site: 3278 On-line Memorials: National World War II Registry Find-A-Grave |
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Marysville relatives have received word that Capt. Richard V. Miracle, 25, pilot of an A26 Invader bomber, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Miracle of Mt. Gilead, has been reported missing in action over Germany since December 25th. Captain Miracle's mother was Miss Harriett Snider, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Charles Snider, of Marysville, and a cousin of Miss Elmo Snider and French Snider. Captain Miracle, a graduate of West Point Military Academy in 1943, when he was assigned to the Air Corps, had participated in more than 57 missions. In a letter to his parents, written December 24th, he said that he had been appointed to the Defence Council of Court-Martial Board and would start the following Monday on his new assignment. He had been overseas since January, 1944, and held the Air Medal, and two Oak Leaf clusters. Extracted from Newspapers.com |
See also Capt Richard Victor Miracle Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF)
(FOIA request fulfilled by Government Information Specialist Bryan K. Jolly, Fort Knox, KY)
Disclaimer: IDPF files document efforts to locate, identify, move, notify relatives and provide final resting for Soldier Dead,
often months or years after death, thus some pages may contain potentially disturbing or distressing information.
If you are sensitive, please consider whether to read this or not.
Click Here for information on WWII IDPFs.
Captain Miracle was flying as flight leader on Christmas morning, 1944. The target was a communications center at Munstereifel, Germany. Flak over the target was heavy and Captain Miracle's aircraft suffered a direct hit and went down without survivors. This was his 65th and would have been his last mission. He was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Class of June 1943. While many documents, including Captain Miracle's headstone show his death date as 25 December 1944, per the Individual Deceased Personnel File (PDF page 39 and others), captured German records show that Captain Miracle died 26 December 1944 in a hospital of wounds received when his A-20 (Havoc) bomber crashed 25 December 1944, at Mierfeld, Belgium, nine miles southeast of Malmedy, Belgium and about fifty-five miles north of Luxemburg. These same captured German records indicate that he was buried 26 December 1944 with military honors in the Soldier's Cemetery at Mierfeld near the parish church.
See also MACR 12016 and Mission # 176
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Source information can be viewed at WWII Military Service Fatalities Sources
