John Harry Oates was born in 1916. He was the son of Mary Joanna Parker Oates.
John served in the 863rd Bomber Squadron, 493rd Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Second Lieutenant and Pilot on the B17G #44-6277 during World War II. Sgt Garrigues and 2Lt Oates were Killed in Action on September 12, 1944, when their airplane was shot down by an enemy aircraft and crashed in Semmenstedt, south of Brunswick, Germany. The seven remaining members of their crew survived but were taken as prisoners.
2Lt Oates is now buried in the Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, Los Angeles County, California, USA.
The crew members who survived were Co-pilot: John Mosher, Navigator: Bob Wideman, Bombardier: Bill Follis, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Warren Lamon, Radio Operator: John Jones, Ball turret gunner: Hector Tirado, Waist gunner: Julian Duggan.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.americanairmuseum.com