671st BS Patch

416th Bombardment Group (L)

2Lt. Alwin Caruthers Burns Jr.

Bombardier/Navigator,  O-708876

Killed In Action - Sep 29, 1944

671st Bombardment Squadron (L)

 WWII-Medal

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B/N Wings        Missing Man        Purple Heart



      Born: 1921, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina

Entered Military Service: From: Sumter County, South Carolina

Buried: Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands, Plot L Row 10 Grave 16

On-line Memorials:
National World War II Registry     Overseas American Cemeteries
American Battle Monuments Commission Memorial, Certificate
Find-A-Grave
Fields of Honor Database


Lt. Burns, from Mecklenburg County, NC, graduated from Davidson College in the class of 1942 and enlisted in the Army Air Corps in July of that year.

The afternoon mission on 29 Sep 44, the 149th for the 416th Bomb Group, was to the Julich Marshalling Yards. A direct hit of flak caused a gas tank to explode, downing the aircraft flown by Lt. DeMand.



Notes:
A/C Last Sighted and was Lost as a result of Enemy Anti-Aircraft. Exploded in mid-air from direct flak hit.

Description:
Three planes, all from the 671st Bomb Sq (L), were knocked down, and almost simultaneously, at the target. All three were in the same flight. Lt F.W. DeMand was leading the flights with Lt A.C. Burns, B-N, in the nose and Staff Sergeants R.J. Troyer and C.W. Middleton in the tail. The plane received a direct hit and exploded in mid-air in the area over the target. Two chutes were observed to emerge from the falling wreck.
(416th BG History 1944)

See also MACR 9274 and Mission # 149



Photos and Documents
1930 US Census
1940 US Census
1940 US Census
School Yearbook
School Yearbook
Portrait
Portrait
Headstone Inscription and Interment Record
Memorial
Headstone (ABMC)
Headstone
Courtesy Ron Wintjens, taken 4-May-2016 during The Faces of Margraten tribute
Rosters Of WW II Dead
WW II Army and Army Air Force Casualty List
National World War II Memorial Registry
American Battle Monuments Commission Certificate


Source information can be viewed at WWII Military Service Fatalities Sources

"Goin' Home" courtesy of the U.S. Air Force Band