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Conatser Jack D.

Name:
Jack D. Conatser
Rank:
First Lieutenant
Serial Number:
Unit:
377th Fighter Squadron, 362nd Fighter Group
Date of Death:
1944-09-27
State:
Oklahoma
Cemetery:
Tecumseh Cemetery, Tecumseh, Oklahoma
Plot:
A2B9
Row:
R7
Grave:
7
Decoration:
Comments:

Jack D. Conatser was born on September 8, 1921 in Garvin County, Oklahoma. He served in the 377th Fighter Squadron, 362nd Fighter Group as a First Lieutenant during World War II. On 27 September 1944 1st Lt. Jack D. Conatser from American 362 FG (377 FS), stationed at Prosnes in France, was, along with his comrades, attacking ground targets in the Saarbrücken area in Germany. At about 17.05 hrs Conatser dived down with his P-47 "Eunice-Louise II" P-47D # 42-28658 to strafe vehicles near the railway station at Hemmersdorf, Germany. While doing so he was hit by 2-cm-flak fire by a unit stationed at Hemmersdorf/Niedaltdorf. His aircraft crashed in the Rückert District, close to the town limits between Kerlingen and Ihn, and exploded. Conatser didn't manage to bail out and was found dead with smashed skull, smashed left hand and smashed feet in the wreckage.

The dead pilot was most probably still looted by forced laborers and then buried on the communal cemetery at Ihn. Eye-witnesses assumed that, because of his features, he could have been a Native American. In fact, Conatser came from Oklahoma, from an area with a population with a high percentage of Indians. He was transferred to a cemetery there in 1947. First it hadn't been possible to identify him because his uniform was badly shredded. It wasn't until March 1945 that his dogtag with his name was discovered by farm workers in the fields. 1LT Conatser is now buried in the Tecumseh Cemetery, Tecumseh, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com