Gilbert Earl Rodgers was born at Rosebud, Canaan Township, Gasconade County, Missouri (in the Ozarks) on March 2, 1917. His parents were George Washington Rodgers (3 Apr 1878 – 30 Jul 1930), who was born at Tea, Gasconade County, Missouri; and Belva Jane (Havener) Rodgers (1890 – 20 Oct 1967), who was born in Missouri. His parents married on March 18, 1906, and resided for a time near Tea and in Owensville and Union, Missouri, where his father was a farmer. In 1915 his parents moved to Rosebud, Missouri, about 25 miles south of the Missouri River. There they operated a hotel, and his father was the rural letter carrier on Route 1.

He had two brothers, Everett R. Rodgers (9 May 1907 – 8 Jul 1907) and Elvin Delmar Rodgers (31 Mar 1909 – 6 Dec 1968); and a sister, Delma L. Rodgers (abt 1926 – unk). His father died of typhoid fever in 1930. In 1940 his mother continued to operate the hotel, and he worked as an automobile mechanic. By December 1943 his mother moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where she lived with her daughter Delma.

He graduated from Owensville (Missouri) High School in May 1935, and worked as an automobile mechanic for Wehmeyer Brothers Motor Company in Rosebud. Newspaper stories show that he visited Saint Louis, Missouri many times for business and for recreation with family and friends. He registered for the draft at Rosebud on October 16, 1940. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighed 165 pounds, and had blue eyes and black hair. He later moved to Gentry County, Missouri (north of Kansas City) where he worked as a mechanic and repairman. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Jefferson Barracks, Saint Louis, Missouri on October 4, 1942.

He completed Army Air Forces flight engineer training at Sheppard Field, Wichita Falls, Texas in July 1943; and aerial gunnery training at Tyndall Field, Panama City, Florida in October 1943. He was assigned as ball turret gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Joseph P. Willis in the 838th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group. The Willis crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 42-52577 from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lavenham, England via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.

On May 29, 1944 the 487th Bomb Group dispatched two Squadrons of B-24s to bomb the oil refinery at Politz, Germany (which is now Police, Poland). After leaving the target, the formation was attacked by German fighters in the vicinity of the rally point. Sgt Rodgers and eight of his crewmates went missing in action when their aircraft, B-24H 42-52577, was shot down by German Me 410 fighters and exploded over the Baltic Sea within sight of Bornholm Island. Their bodies were never found.

The aircraft was seen going down due north of the target at about 54°02'N, 14°42'E, one to two miles from the coast. Lt Willis assumed a northwesterly course towards Sweden. Witnesses saw fuel leaking from the bomb bay, which appeared to stop when an engine was feathered. The aircraft exploded, and witnesses saw it crash in the Baltic Sea at 1240 hours at 54°47'N, 14°00'E, about 20 miles northeast of Rugen Island, Germany. The navigator, Lt Edgar Allan Grabhorn, was blown clear in the explosion and survived. He was rescued later that day at 1815 hours by the German fishing vessel Oskar Friedrich at 54°39'N, 14°36'E, where he was found floating in a life raft. He became a prisoner of war.

Sgt Rodgers is memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery near Madingley, England.

B-24H 42-52577 crew:
• Willis, Joseph P – 2/Lt – Pilot – MIA
• Wasson, Robert L – 2/Lt – Copilot – MIA
• Grabhorn, Edgar A – 2/Lt – Navigator – POW
• Slusarczyk, Stanley A – 2/Lt – Bombardier – MIA
• Estright, Alfred T – Sgt – Engineer – MIA
• Robinson Jr, Richard S – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – MIA
• Rodgers, Gilbert E – Sgt – Ball Turret – MIA
• Pierson, Robert E – Sgt – Nose Turret – MIA
• Jones, William E – Sgt – Top Turret – MIA
• Donnelly, Robert J – Sgt – Tail Turret – MIA

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