Gordon Paul Thoroman was born at Adams County, Ohio on October 1, 1924. He was probably an only child. His birth mother is unknown. His father was Rufus Wilson Thoroman (30 Jul 1901 22 Sep 1970), who was born at Lawshe, Meigs Township, Adams County, Ohio. His first stepmother was Myra V. (Howe) Thoroman (26 Sep 1904 unk), born at Cincinnati, Ohio, whom his father married in 1927; her fate is unknown. His second stepmother was Opal Mary (Moore) Thoroman (14 Feb 1908 14 Dec 2002), born at Adams County, Ohio, whom his father married by 1940. In 1940 the family lived at 514 3rd Street, Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio; in December 1942 they lived at 412 2nd Street in Portsmouth; and in 1944 they lived at 1422 High Street in Portsmouth. His father was a locomotive fireman for Norfolk and Western Railway, and a roller operator (road builder) for the Works Progress Administration. In 1958 Rufus and Opal Thoroman lived at 2733 Grandview Avenue, Portsmouth, Ohio.
He completed four years of high school, and registered for the draft at Portsmouth, Ohio on December 24, 1942. He was 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighed 130 pounds, and had blue eyes and brown hair. At that time he worked for Dalton Brothers Grocery in Portsmouth. He was single when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Fort Thomas, Newport, Kentucky on March 8, 1943.
He completed Army Air Forces radio operator and aerial gunnery training, and was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Robert G. Kraker in the 839th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. This Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. The Kraker crew was a replacement crew that arrived at Station 137 by June 5, 1944, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.
On December 24, 1944, the 8th Air Force launched mission #760, the largest aerial mission of the war, a maximum effort which involved more than 2000 heavy bombers. The mission was to bomb German airfields and supply lines, to stop the German offensive in the Ardennes known as the Battle of the Bulge. The 487th Bomb Group led the entire 8th Air Force on this mission. On this mission the Kraker crew was assigned to lead a Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group which flew as the Low Squadron of the 94th Bomb Group (Composite). Captain Hugh B. Robertson Jr, O-678329, flew in the copilot position as Air Leader, and 2/Lt Morris Schmulewitz flew with the crew as radar operator (aka 'Mickey' Operator).
T/Sgt Thoroman and three of his crew mates went missing in action on December 24, 1944, when their aircraft, B-17G 42-98019 'Mutzie B', had engine trouble over Belgium while inbound to the target, and Lt Kraker was forced to abort the mission. On the return, an engine exploded and caught fire over the North Sea. T/Sgt Thoroman and three of his crew mates2/Lt Morris Schmulewitz, T/Sgt William J. McClendon, and S/Sgt Robert A. Nashbailed out and landed in the North Sea up to eight miles offshore from Ostend, Belgium at 1320 hours, in the vicinity of 51°12'N, 2°37'E. Despite search and rescue efforts with boats and aircraft, they were never found.
T/Sgt Thoroman is memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium.
B-17G 42-98019 crew:
F/O Robert G. Kraker Pilot
F/O Braden M. Souders Copilot
F/O Scott Roberts Navigator
2/Lt Charles C. Collet Jr Bombardier
S/Sgt Gordon P. Thoroman Radio Operator
S/Sgt William J. McClendon Engineer
Sgt Leon A. Comstock Engineer/Gunner
Sgt Walter S. Deel Engineer/Gunner
Sgt Elwood C. Fry Armorer/Gunner
S/Sgt Robert A. Nash Engineer/Gunner
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com