Joseph Matthew DeRouin served in the 560th Bomber Squadron, 388th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Private and Left Waist Gunner on the B-17 #42-5899 'Sioux City Queen' during World War II.

On January 5, 1944, his crew took off from Station 136 airfield in Knettishall, England, for a mission to bomb the Bordeaux-Mérignac airfield in France. Shot down by flak and fighters at around 11:00 AM, they evacuated their plane by parachute at 6,000 feet except for PFC Sautter, who was mortally injured. Their aircraft crashed in St-Laurent-Médoc, France. Of the crew members who were able to bail out, three members were captured by the Germans and taken as prisoners, 5 evaded the capture, and another casualty due to an unopened parachute. Pvt DeRouin was one of the POWs. He was taken to Stalag Luft 4 in Gross-Tychow, Poland.

Source of information: francecrashes39-45.net