William Bluford Blackmon, Jr. was born on April 20, 1924, in Mangham, Louisiana. He was the son of William B. Blackmon Sr. and Kate Sims.

After completing high school in 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He served in the 535th Bomber Squadron, 381st Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Sergeant and Left Waist Gunner on the B-17G #42-38061 "Georgia Rebel II" during World War II. On April 28, 1944, the crew took off at airfield Station 167 in Ridgewell, England, on a mission to bomb the airfield of Avord in France. At around 12:00 PM, the aircraft was shot down by flak. Three crew members (including Sgt Blackmon) were able to bail out before the explosion in flight, but they were taken as prisoners. The rest were killed in action. Their airplane crashed at the commune of Baugny - 8 km northeast of Avord. Captured by the Nazis, he was sent to Stalag XVII in Krems, Austria, where he would remain for more than a year until being liberated by Gen. George Patton's 13th Armored Division on May 2, 1945.

Blackmon was a retired internal auditor for the Louisiana Department of Transportation. Previously he worked as a hotel bellhop, newspaper salesman, and lounge club owner. He died on January 3, 2011, at the age of 86, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is now buried in the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA.

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