James Perry Young, Jr. was born on August 4, 1918 in Presque Isle, Aroostook County, Maine. He was the son of James Perry and Myrtle Edith Austin Young. He resided in Cumberland County, Maine prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army on May 18, 1942 in Portland, Maine. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a industry clerk and also as Divorced, without dependents.
James Perry, Jr. served as a Staff Sergeant and Radio Operator/Gunner on B-26B #41-31597, 553rd Bomber Squadron, 386th Bomber Group, Medium, U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. B-26B #41-31597 was attacked and shot down by German Fighter planes and crashed just off the coast of the North Sea near the Eastern Scheldt river during the war.
SSgt Young was declared "Missing In Action" in this crash. His name is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing, Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.
Airmen who perished on B-26B (#41-31597):
Bragg, Paul W ~ S/Sgt, Engineer, OH
Cuthbertson, James F ~ Sgt, Tail Gunner, NJ
McCollum, Samuel D ~ 2nd Lt, Bombardier, TX
Molnar, Robert S ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot, OH
Young, James P ~ S/Sgt, Radio Operator, ME
Zimmerman, Glenn F ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, ID
One airmen on this B-26, became a POW of the German Army. He was 1st. Lt. Cyrus S. Eaton, Jr. and he was held at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia, Bavaria and he survived the war.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com