Stephen Vincent Giltinan, Jr. was born at Chicago, Cook County, Illinois on January 11, 1918. He was one of five children of Stephen Vincent Giltinan (26 Dec 1886 25 Dec 1973), who was born at County Cork, Ireland, and immigrated to America in 1908; and Ellen Mary 'Nellie' (Lucey) Giltinan (Jun 1885 unk), who was born at County Cork, Ireland and immigrated to America about 1915. His parents married at Chicago, Illinois on November 16, 1915, and lived at 5425 Calumet Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. His father was an electrician at the South Works of Illinois Steel Company in Chicago. Between 1921 and 1923 the family lived in Ireland, where his brothers Thomas and Michael were born. The family returned to the States in October 1923. By 1930 the family lived at Dearborn, Wayne County, Michigan, where his father worked for Ford Motor Company at its Rouge Plant. The family home in 1940 was at 1031 Haigh Street, Dearborn, Michigan.
Stephen Giltinan Jr married Margaret Phyllis Riley (24 Nov 1919 4 Aug 1999) at Dearborn, Michigan on April 27, 1940, and had a daughter, Pamela (Giltinan) Gardill (1943 ). He registered for the draft at Dearborn, Michigan on October 16, 1940. He was 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighed 178 pounds, and had hazel eyes and black hair. At that time he and his wife lived at 5501 Mead Avenue in Dearborn and he worked for Ford Motor Company.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army in Michigan, completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery training, and was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Richard L. Althouse. The Althouse crew completed operational training in the States, and was assigned to the 839th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group, at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. They arrived at Station 137 by December 13, 1944, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.
On January 20, 1945 Lt Althouse's crew flew B-17G 42-97969 'Paddlefoot' on the 487th Bomb Group mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Heilbronn, Germany and Pforzheim, Germany. During the bomb run the aircraft's number one prop ran away and could not be feathered, and the engine began to burn out. On the return, Sgt Giltinan and three crewmates (Coughran, Gustine, and Garrison) bailed out over France. Apparently Sgt Giltinan's parachute malfunctioned, or he was unable to deploy it, and he fell to his death. The other three men parachuted safely and Lt Althouse was able to land the aircraft near Brιtigny-sur-Orge, about twenty miles south of Paris, France.
Sgt Giltinan's body was found in early February 1945, four kilometers southwest of Dosnon, some 40 kilometers south of Chalons-sur-Marne, France. He was buried on February 3, 1945 at the temporary U.S. Military Cemetery Champigneul near Chalons-sur-Marne. (Chalons-sur-Marne was renamed Chβlons-en-Champagne in 1998.) After the war his remains were reinterred at Epinal American Cemetery, France.
B-17G 42-97969 crew:
Richard L. Althouse Pilot
Richard F. Baer Copilot
Douglas D. Coughran Jr Navigator
William R. Bressler Radio Operator
Thomas J. Fugere Engineer
Aaron C. Coon Armorer/Gunner
Norman B. Garrison Gunner
Stephen V. Giltinan Jr Gunner
Harold R. Gustine Gunner
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com, www.ancestry.com