John James “Jack” Murray, Jr. was born on December 31, 1923 in Ossining, New York. He was the son of John James Murray and Mabel Vidalia Wildey Murray. John served as a Flight Officer and Co-Pilot on the B-17G #42-102552 "Horn's Hornets" aircraft, 339th Bomber Squadron, 96th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II.

The plane took off from 138 Snetterton Heath, Norfolk, UK on a bombing mission over the oil storage facilities at Gennevilliers, a suburban area of Paris. While the B-17 inflicted major damage upon the target, Paris was surrounded with infamous flak, and two of the twenty-five B-17s were shot down, including the Horn's Hornets. His plane spun down after flak knocked off the entire tail assembly and crashed in the streets of Rue Pajol and Rue Ricquet, Paris. Seven members from his crew were Killed in Action and three were taken as prisoners.

F/O Murray and three other crew from the front of the plane were able to exit the plane. Unfortunately, his parachute did not open properly and he was killed upon impacting the ground at 5 Rue Lecuyer, Saint Ouen, France (this is just north of the present day Boulevard Periphique and east of the Porte de Saint-Ouen.) He is now buried in the Epinal American Cemetery, Dinozé, France.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com