Joseph Howard Vivian, Sr., was born on September 28, 1919, in Bishop, Texas. He was married to Belle Lorene Carver Vivian Kinney.

Joseph served in the 506th Fighter Squadron, 404th Fighter Group, as a Fighter Pilot on the P-47D #42-8379 during World War II. On June 7, 1944, 1Lt Vivian was declared Missing in Action. That day, 1Lt Vivian took off from airfield Station 414 in Winkton, England, on an armed reconnaissance mission. While flying in an overcast while patrolling the beach area he became separated from the squadron. He was last seen at 3000 feet over Grandcamp having difficulty maintaining height. His plane possibly crashed at sea in the Grandcamp-Maisy sector. The homing station received a call from him 25 minutes later and gave him a steer. After that, the contact was lost.

First Lieutenant Vivian's body was never found. His name is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, francecrashes39-45.net, www.americanairmuseum.com