Donald Pelletier was born on April 12, 1918, in Maine, to Belone S Pelletier and Christie A. Brann Pelletier. He resided in Aroostook County, Maine, prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army on January 7, 1942, in Portland, Maine. He was noted as being Single, without dependents.
Donald served in the 861st Bomber Squadron, 493rd Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Technical Sergeant and Waist Gunner on the B-17G #43-38190 "Sweet Sue" during World War II. On December 30, 1944, his crew took off at Felixstowe, England, on a mission to Kassel, Germany. After climbing on altitude over the English Channel, one of their engines began smoking, then caught on fire. As the pilots fought to regain control, five men bailed out while over the water. Their aircraft was stabilized, and the airplane successfully landed at an emergency airstrip at Woodbridge. Those men who bailed out were never found, which includes TSgt Pelletier. He is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom. He also has a cenotaph located in Saint Charles Catholic Cemetery, Maine.
The five crew members who bailed out were:
Roland A Beaudoin - Ball Turret Gunner
Donald L Beba - Waist Gunner
Glenward S Fuchs Jr - Tail Gunner
Sidney W Minor - Flight Engineer
Donald Pelletier - Waist Gunner
Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, www.honorstates.org