BassEverette - 669th KIT

416th Bombardment Group (L)

Sgt. Everette Lee Bass

Airplane Mechanic - Gunner, 34303730

Killed In Training - Oct 1, 1943

669th Bombardment Squadron (L)

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Gunner Wings Missing Man

Born: 16-Jun-1917, Lincoln County, North Carolina

Entered Military Service: Date: 14-May-1942 At: Ft Bragg, NC From: Rutherford County, North Carolina
NARA Enlistment Record: Enlisted Serial # 34303730

Body lost at sea: Memorial at Palm Tree Methodist Church Cemetery, Vale, North Carolina, Remains not recovered

On-line Memorials:
National World War II Registry
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Sgt Everett Lee Bass

SGT USAAF WWII416th Bomb Group, 669th Bomb Squadron, Based at Lake Charles Army Air Field, LouisianaASN 34303730

He was the son of Reverend Robert Lee Bass and Vangie Kate Wood Bass of Spindale, North Carolina. He had siblings, Reverend William 'Bill' Bass, Myrle Bass Allred, Mary Lou Bass Bigler, and Sara Louise Bass Tolbert. He was married at the time of his loss.

He entered the Air Corps on 14 May 1942.He was killed while on duty as a gunner over the Gulf of Mexico.

He died in A-20G # 42-54040, an attack bomber type aircraft, when the plane crashed into the water approximately three miles west of Calcasieu Pass, and approximately four miles off the Louisiana coast. The crew members killed in this crash were~

2nd Lt Walter C Morris, Pilot, ASN O-684382, from Lancaster, Garrard Co KYSgt Hughes M Braud, ASN 34076768, Position ?, from St James Parish LASgt Everett L Bass, ASN 34303730, Gunner, from Rutherford Co NC

Note~ Remains not recovered.

Extracted from Find A Grave.com

Notes:
Nature of Accident: Pilot failed to recover from peel-off and struck the water.

Cause of Accident: Pilot apparently banked too steeply in peel-off, and in attempting to recover, hit right wing tip on surface of the water, and then hit the water, airplane disintegrating and causing fatal injuries to himself and two gunners.

Description:
On October 1, 2nd Lt Walter C. Morris, with his gunners, Sgt Everette L. Bass and Sgt Hughes M. Braun, crashed and sank into the Gulf while on a minimum altitude missions. Their bodies were never recovered.
(416th BG History 1943)

10-1-43D. Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana. At 1116, a Douglas A-20G crashed into the Gulf of Mexico four miles off shore and three miles west of Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana, killing pilot 2Lt. Walter C. Morris, gunner Sgt. Everette L. Bass and gunner Sgt. Hughes M. Braud. Investigators stated, "Three airplane flight [of A-20s] went over the Gulf of Mexico on a gunnery mission. Not being able to find their targets, they fired their ammunition at various objects, and the would form an echelon formation, peel off, and then re-form in echelon. After two or three such maneuvers, the leader peeled off to the left from an echelon to the right, being at an altitude of approximately 550 to 650 feet, and the second airplane in the echelon, piloted by Lt. Morris, was seen to stay in a steep bank and slip toward the surface of the water. Just before striking the water he was seen to bank sharply to the right, his right wingtip striking the water and the outer three or four feet of the wingtip bent upward. He then pulled up 15 to 20 feet in the air, as though recovering, then hit the water, the airplane disintegrating and disappearing below the surface of the water."
(Mireles, Vol. 2, Pg. 536)

See also AAR 44-10-1-3

Photos and Documents

1920 US Census

1930 US Census

1940 US Census

WW II Draft Card

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Portrait

Memorial Page

MemorialMarker

Cemetery Memorial

Cemetery Memorial

WW II Army and Army Air Force Casualty List

National World War II Memorial Registry

Source information can be viewed at WWII Military Service Fatalities Sources