B-17 Crash Site
The location of the B-17 crash site is a closely held secret. We use this space to honor the memory of those who served.
The fatal flight of the B-17G Flying Fortress #42-102746, 325th Base Unit Avon Park Airfield, Avon Park, Florida, left with a group of 13 aircraft on a routine flight to participate in mock bombing exercises over Tallahassee, Florida, and Waycross, Georgia. The Bomber group encountered a thundercloud and 11 bombers took evasive action and avoided the storm. The lead bomber went through successfully, but unfortunately, the bomber piloted by 2nd Lt. Gordon E Thrall was struck by lightning and crashed.
Crewmen and Biographies
Pvt. William Gehman, Jr., Gibbstown, NJ
Born in 1918 in Pennsylvania, died July 30, 1944. No record of a marriage or children.
Mother died in 1927 from a gas leak. William Gehman, Sr. died in 1964. One older sister, Hazel, died in 2005. Younger brother, Edward, born in 1920, has probably passed on.
William Morton Gehman, Jr. enlisted in the Army in 1936 and was stationed in the Panama Canal. He reenlisted shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He served as a ball-turret gunner on the B-17.
He received the World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation, and Army Good Conduct Medal.
PFC Gehman, Jr. is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Yeadon, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, USA. His obituary appeared in the Courier-Post, Camden, New Jersey, August 2, 1944.
Cpl. James Dracopoulos, Newport, RI.
James was born in 1924 in Providence, RI., the son of Dimakes and Evanathia Dracopoulos, both emigrates from Greece. They were naturalized citizens on March 8, 1909, and December 6, 1927. James’ given name was Demetrius, which was Americanized. No record of a marriage or children.
According to a clipping from the “Newport Mercury and Weekly News” published on August 4, 1944, James enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1942 after graduating from Rogers High School. He was first sent to Atlantic City, NJ, and then to Niagara Falls for pilot training. He received aviation gunnery training in Goldsboro, NC and was transferred to Florida.
James Dracopoulos completed his military draft card on June 30, 1942 in Newport County, Rhode Island. He was 18 years old, 5’9” Brown hair, black eyes, dark complexion and weighed 142 lbs.
James Dracopoulos was able to go home twice in 1944, in March for 10 days. The Newport Mercury, reported on March 31, 1944, “James Dracopoulos is home visiting his father for 10 days. This is his first visit home since he was inducted in January 1943.”
The Newport News reported on June 16, 1944, Corporal James Dracopoulos, aerial gunner on a B-25 bomber stationed at Avon Park, Florida is on furlough visiting his parents. James died in the crash of the B-17 on July 30, 1944, four months after returning to Avon Park Air Force Base, Florida.
His death left behind his father and two sisters, Athena and Antoinette who died in 2005.
He received the following commendations: World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation and Army Good Conduct Medal.
He received the World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation and Army Good Conduct Medal.
Cpl. Arthur L. Davis, San Francisco, CA.
He was laid to rest near his parents at Gridley-Biggs Cemetery, Gridley, Butte, California with a military headstone. One of his nephews left this description:
“I don’t know very much about my Uncle Art; I was about 4 months old when he died. My Mom went to high school with him, and said he was very warm, friendly and outgoing, and that he liked to play the piano and act in school plays. My Grandmother, Elizabeth, says that when they had a farm, Art helped her with chores around the house, while my Dad, several years older, helped his father out in the fields.
When my Grandmother moved to San Francisco, Art was still in high school in Gridley, so he stayed with her half-sister, Alice Cole Carlin, to finish school. However, Art enlisted (I believe he was 18) in the U.S. Army Air Corps and was in basic training in Texas (then sent to Florida) as a Navigator/Tail Gunner. In the summer of 1944, his flight crew was on a training mission in Florida and their plane went down in a hurricane.
According to Grandma, Art told her when he enlisted that he did not think he would be back. She also told me that Art appeared to her in a dream and tried to comfort her shortly before she was notified of his death by the Air Corps. I think at the time she told me this, I was a bit skeptical; but I had a similar experience when my Brother, Bud, died a few years ago. So, I’m no longer skeptical about such experiences.”
Pvt. Horace William Newton, Texarkana, TX
Horace was born August 10, 1914, in Hiawatha, Kansas, son of William and Mary Starbucks Newton. His siblings were Coy, Birdie, and Bernice.
According to the 1930 U. S. Federal Census for McMinnville, Warren, Tennessee, Horace’s father, William Newton, owned “Honest Bill’s Circus”. It operated through 1930 and 1940. All of William and Mary’s children were born in different states in the mid-West.
He registered for military service on October 16, 1940 at the Field Artillery Armory in Seattle, Washington. He was 5’10” and weighed 160 lbs. Had hazel eyes, brown hair, and fair complexion. He was 26 years old. His brother, Clyd C Newton also registered with him.
He received the World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation and Army Good Conduct Medal.
On October 24, 1942, Horace married Margaret Pryor in Capital Hill, King County, Washington. I do not believe any children were produced in this marriage.
Pvt. Albert. C. Fries, Westmont, IL.
Sources US Census Records, Ancestry, Fold3, Florida Death Index,
Albert C, Fries was born 1925 in DuPage County, Illinois to Charles Augustine and Emmaline Cutter Fries. He had one sister, Rel Rhea Fries.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on January 20, 1944 at Fort Sheridan Illinois. He had 2 years of high school. After his death on July 30, 1944 he was taken to a military hospital. His hospital Admission Card file states that he was 18 years old, died in line of duty, his length of service was 9 to 11 months.
His military service number was 16187991.
He received the following commendations: World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation and Army Good Conduct Medal.
His father, Charles Augustine Fries registered for WWI June 5, 1917 and he claimed an exemption because he was an Inspector for Western Electric Company. In 1942 he registered with the “Old Man” Draft Card, he was 54 years old. In 1940 he was an Inspector for Western Electric.
Pvt. Marvin J. MaGee
Marvin J Magee Jr. was born September 1, 1922, in Sunny Hill, Louisiana. He was the son of Marvin Jacob and Pearl Parker Magee. There were nine children in the family. His cousin, Jill Magee said the family called him Uncle Toby.
Marvin Jacob Magee Jr. was the sole survivor from the plane crash, he died on April 16, 2003 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is buried at the Greenoaks Memorial Park in Baton Rouge. Marvin registered his military Draft card for WWII in Tyler, Texas on June 30, 1942. He was 19 years old. He was working for the Delta Drilling Company.
His WWII Army Record shows that he enlisted on December 16, 1942. The Branch was Army, Warrant Officers. He had four years of high school and he was working in the manufacture of automobiles. When he was discharged, he had the rank of CPL US Army Air Forces.
2nd Lt. Gordon Thrall – Pilot
Gordon Edward Thrall was born May 18, 1922, in Hartford, Connecticut to Norman B. And Irene Dotzauer Thrall. He had one brother, Norman Sidney, two years younger. Acccording to his draft registration card, Gordon was 20 years old, 5’8″ and weighed 140 lbs with brown hair, brown eyes, and a ruddy complexion.
Gordon Ran cross country and was a member of his high school orchestra.
According Gordon’s obituary, published in the Hartford Courier, August 2, 1944, he entered the Army Air Force in November 1942 after graduating from Manchester High School and Bradley Polytechnic Institute.
A wedding announcement for Lt. Gordon Thrall and Esther Christine Brown was printed in the Hartford Courier on April 2, 1944. The marriage never took place.
2nd Lt. Gordon E. Thrall was the was the pilot of B-17G Flying Fortress #42-102746, 325th Base Unit, which left Avon Park Airfield, Avon Park, Florida.
2nd Lt. Thrall was charged with the accident according to the War Department U S Army Air Forces Report of Aircraft Accident. The weather conditions that day were 16,000 ft. ceiling, high broken low scatted 4500 ft. and the cause of the accident was flying into a thundercloud. The nature of the accident was breaking up in flight His mission that day formation camera bombing over Tallahassee, Florida and Waycross, Georgia.
Gordon is buried in the East Cemetery, Manchester, Hartford, Connecticut with his parents.
2nd Lt. John W. Smidt, Wilmington, NC
John Willard Smidt was born March 13, 1922 in the Panama Canal Zone, Panama to John W and Lora Fennel Smidt. He had one brother, James R Smidt, who served in the Marines.
John arrived in New York aboard the Chateau Thierry, from Cristobal, CZ Via San Juan, PR, he was 2 years and 6-month-old.
John’s father immigrated from Hamburg, Germany, where he had received a degree in electrical engineering. He was working a ship sailing around the world and jumped ship in New York. He was arrested and given the choice to join the Army or go back to Germany. His name was Americanized from Schmidt to Smidt. He served in China, the Philippines, Panama, Guam, and all over the United States. When he retired, he was a major in charge of coastal defense for San Diego in WWII.
John completed his military draft card registration in Wilmington, NC, on June 30, 1042. He was 20 years old, 5’9”, Blue eyes, blonde hair, and light completion. He was working for North Carolina Shipbuilding Co. of New Haven, NC.
2nd Lt. Smidt Enlisted on September 30, 1942 and was the navigator about the B-17.
He received the World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation and Army Good Conduct Medal
He is buried at Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington, North Carolina.
2nd Lt. Charles W. Shannon, Chelsea, MA
2Lt. Charles William Shannon was born on May 31, 1922, in Chelsea Mass. To Charles William and Helen Ramsburg Shannon. He had a sister, Emily and a brother Suel Grant Shannon.
Charles W. Shannon Jr. completed his military draft card on June 30, 1942, in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. He was 20 years old, 5’11” tall, blue eyes, blonde hair, and a light complexion. He was employed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Mass.
He was the co-pilot on the B-17 that fateful day.
Charles William Shannon, Jr. was laid to rest at the Woodlawn Cemetery, under a military headstone, Everett, Middlesex, Mass.
He received the World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation, and Army Good Conduct Medal.
2nd Lt. Donald Price, Panaca, NV
Donald Louis Price was born November 11, 1922 to Joseph Adalbert and Dora Belle Rencher Price in Saint George, Washington, Utah. He was the 9th child in a family of 11 children., there were 5 boys and 6 girls.
There are indications that he married in 1942, but the wife in question was born in 1936 so this may be incorrect information.
Donald L Price registered with the Selective Service Board on June 30, 1942, he was 19 years old, 5’9”, Gray eyes, brown hair, light complexion. He was employed by the US Government in the property account department.
Donald was the bombardier on the B-17.
He received the World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation, and Army Good Conduct Medal
Donald Louis Price is buried in the Enterprise City Cemetery, Enterprise, Washington, Utah, surrounded by this family.
News Articles
WFSU – Saint Marks Bomber Rediscovered
Letter from Pvt. Marvin J. Magee to the Mother of Private Albert C. Fries
This letter is provided by Joyce Ryan, who is the nephew of Private Fries.