Kees Lewis Edward

Name:

Lewis Edward Kees

Rank:

Corporal

Serial Number:

33418541

Unit:

885th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) (Special)

Date of Death:

1944-09-12

State:

Pennsylvania

Cemetery:

Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Plot:

Section E

Row:

Grave:

Site 60-61

Decoration:

Air Medal, Purple Heart

Comments:

Lewis Edward Kees was born on January 3, 1923, in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. He was the son of David Edward Kees and Mary L. Kees.

Lewis resided in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army on January 1, 1943, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Toolmaker and also as a single, without dependents.

At the time of his death, Lewis was serving in the 885th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) (Special) as a Corporal and Gunner on the B-24G #42-78243 "Dallas Lady." On September 12, 1944, his crew took off at 8:08 PM from Maison-Blanche (Algeria) on a mission to drop containers and packs to the underground of Allessandria's sector (northeast of Piemont, north Italy). Around 23:00, due to bad weather and a navigation error, their aircraft hit the mountain wall and crashed at the peak of Corne de Bouc mountains in Fontan, France. All men aboard were killed in the crash.

Their bodies were initially buried in Fontan town cemetery, then moved to a temporary cemetery in Luynes, and finally in the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Kentucky, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, francecrashes39-45.net