When Charles Henry Tibbatts, Jr. was born on October 1, 1911, in Aloha, Oregon, his father, Charles, was 29 and his mother, Elizabeth, was 25. He had three brothers and one sister.
Charles, Jr. served in the 338th Bomber Squadron, 96th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Staff Sergeant and Top Turret Gunner on the B17 #43-38746 aircraft during World War II. On January 29, 1945, while attempting assembly into a bomber stream scheduled to raid the marshalling railway yards at Bielefeld, Germany, his aircraft collided with that of 2Lt. George Peretti. Both aircraft exploded and crashed approximately 1/2 miles southeast of the airdrome. All 18 crew members aboard the 2 aircrafts were killed. SSGT Tibbatts is now buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom. His name is commemorated on a marker located at the village of North Lopham, Norfolk, England but his rank is inscribed as a Technical Sergeant.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.ancestry.com, www.abmc.gov