George O. Branstetter, Jr. was born in 1914 in Oklahoma, son of George O. Branstetter who resided in Wellsville, Missouri. George, Jr. resided in Rogers County, Oklahoma prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army on December 22, 1942 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Farmer and also as Divorced, without dependents. George, Jr. served as a Private First Class, 982nd Engineer Maintenance Company, U.S. Army during World War II.

On May 23, 1945, he was a passenger on Flight C-46D (4-77507) which was taking 41 American soldiers that were ill, injured, or repatriated prisoners of war to hospitals in the Paris, France area and was then eventually going to take them all back to the United States. This flight occurred after Germany's surrender on May 7, 1945. However this C-46, for unknown reasons, developed a fire in one of it's two engines and crashed near the village of Taillefontaine, near Paris. All men aboard were killed in the crash. PFC Branstetter is now buried in the Epinal American Cemetery, Dinozé, France.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com