John H. Strong was born in Illinois on June 13, 1925, and resided in Cook County, Illinois. His parents were John Edward Strong Sr (abt 1889 – unk), who was born at Bristol, Virginia; and Flora Bell (O'Connor) Strong (14 Feb 1894 – 26 Oct 1969), who was born at Loretto, Lawrence County, Tennessee. His parents married at Portsmouth, Virginia on September 21, 1922, and moved to Illinois by 1923. He had two brothers: John Edward Strong Jr (12 Dec 1923 – 12 Dec 1923), who was born at Waukegan, Lake County, Illinois; and Milton Thomas Strong (1931 – ), who was born at Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. In 1940 the family lived at 5024 North Kildare Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, and his father worked as a salesman for Public Utilities.

He completed one year of college, and was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Chicago, Illinois, on June 7, 1943. His home of record was 5141 North Kostner Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, his father's address in 1945.

He completed Army Air Forces bombardier training, and was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Daniel C. Smoke Jr. The Smoke crew completed B-17 operational training at Biloxi, Mississippi [we know this from the record of Sgt Elmer E. Koepsell], and was sent to Hunter Field, Savannah, Georgia, where they were assigned a new B-17 for the deployment to England. They were assigned to the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. They arrived at Station 137 by February 26, 1945, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.

On March 19, 1945, the 487th Bomb Group dispatched thirty aircraft to bomb a communications center at Zwickau, Germany. The Smoke crew flew B-17G 43-38038 on this mission. Because of poor weather over England, the Group assembled into formation over A-71, an Allied airfield near Clastres in northeastern France. Lt Strong and his eight crewmates were killed in action when their aircraft collided with Lt John R. Virgin's B-17G 43-37969 'Beverly Jean' during formation assembly. All of Lt Virgin's crew bailed out and survived, but none of Lt Smoke's crew was able to bail out. Lt Strong and his crewmates perished in the subsequent crash of their aircraft near Couvron, France. The dead were buried initially at the temporary U.S. Military Cemetery Champigneul #1 near Chalons-sur-Marne, France. (Chalons-sur-Marne was renamed Chβlons-en-Champagne in 1998.)

Lt Strong's remains were returned to the United States and reinterred at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Loretto, Tennessee on November 6, 1948.

B-17G 43-38038 crew:
• Smoke Jr, Daniel C – 2/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Pendarvis, George H – F/O – Copilot – KIA
• Olsen, Gunnar K – F/O – Navigator – KIA
• Strong, John H – 2/Lt – Bombardier – KIA
• White Jr, John – Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Stone, Harold J – Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Sala, David W – Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – KIA
• Koepsell, Elmer E – Sgt – Waist Gunner – KIA
• Burres, Richard E – Sgt – Tail Gunner – KIA

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com