Elton Tollett was born at Nashville, Howard County, Arkansas on October 12, 1921. His parents were David Earl Tollett Sr (3 Aug 1897 – 23 Aug 1923); and Beuna (Clark) Tollett (1 Apr 1901 – Jul 1984), who later married Garney. His parents married at Nashville, Howard County, Arkansas on July 4, 1918. He had a sister, Winifred Louise (Tollet) Hodge (20 Nov 1919 – 24 Sep 2009) (called Louise); and a brother, David Earl Tollett Jr (25 Jan 1924 – 7 Jun 2006). His father died in 1923, and in 1930 he lived with his mother and two siblings in the household of his father's parents, David and Adelaide Tollett. His mother married Reeder Hill Garney (14 Jul 1898 – Jan 1966) at Howard County, Arkansas, on October 25, 1931, and they had two sons, Billy Hill Garney (1934 – ) and Tommy Roger Garney (1936 – unk). In 1940 the family lived on Highway 4 (highway to Hope) in Nashville Township, Howard County, Arkansas, where Reeder Garney was a tenant farmer.

Elton Tollett graduated from Nashville High School, Nashville, Arkansas in 1940, and worked as a purchasing agent or buyer for Standard Brands Inc. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Little Rock, Arkansas on August 20, 1942. He was 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighed 145 pounds, and had blond hair and blue eyes.

He completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery training at Las Vegas, Nevada in November 1942. His first assignment was antisubmarine patrol on the Atlantic coast, probably with the 8th Antisubmarine Squadron. By March 1944 he was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of First Lieutenant Edward J. Brodsky in the 838th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group. The Brodsky 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. They flew B-24H 42-52581 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 11, 1944 he flew as ball turret gunner on then Captain Edward J. Brodsky's lead crew in B-24H 42-52763, in the deputy lead position of the 838th Bomb Squadron. Here is the crew roster on that day:

B-24H 42-52763:
• Brodsky, Edward J – Capt – Pilot – POW
• Roberts, John W – Capt – Copilot – POW
• Weiss, Lester – 1/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Johnson, Lee G – 2/Lt – Navigator – POW
• Pearce, Thomas W – 1/Lt – Bombardier – KIA
• Simoni, Walter – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Nance, Clifford P – T/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Tollett, Elton – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – MIA
• Lipskas, Bronis D – S/Sgt – Tail Gunner – MIA
• Murphy, William J – S/Sgt – Top Turret Gunner – KIA

The primary target for this mission was the railroad marshalling yards at Chaumont, France, southeast of Paris. The secondary target was Troyes. While en route to the target, navigational error resulted in the Squadron flying over accurate German flak guns guarding the airfield at Chateaudun, France. Brodsky's plane was hit by flak in the number 3 engine, which caught fire. The aircraft peeled off to the right. After losing number 4 engine it dove down, and Capt Brodsky successfully crash landed the aircraft on farmland belonging to a Mr. Hubert Bourjois near the village of Gaubert, commune of Guillonville, France, about fifteen miles east of Chateaudun. One crew member, Lt Lee G. Johnson, bailed out safely before the landing. Capt Brodsky and his copilot, Capt John W. Roberts, escaped from the aircraft on the ground, but were unable to suppress a wing fire. Six crew members were trapped in the aircraft and died when the fire spread and the fuel tanks exploded, engulfing the aircraft in flames.

S/Sgt Tollett was thrown from the plane during the landing and suffered a severe head injury. He died due to brain contusion with hemorrhage at a German Air Force hospital in Orleans, France at 2055 hours on May 12, 1944. According to captured German records, he was buried at the Memorial Cemetery ("Heroes Cemetery") in the row for prisoners of war, Section K, at Orleans, France. After the war, a thorough investigation failed to identify his remains, and he is still listed as missing in action.

He is memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Brittany American Cemetery in Saint-James, France. He is also honored on the Howard County War Memorial at Howard County Courthouse in Nashville, Arkansas.

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