Bergant Joe

Name:

Joe Bergant

Rank:

Staff Sergeant

Serial Number:

39920353

Unit:

602nd Bomber Squadron, 398th Bomb Group

Date of Death:

1944-12-30

State:

Utah

Cemetery:

Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England

Plot:

Tablets of the Missing

Row:

Grave:

Decoration:

Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart

Comments:

Joe Bergant was born on July 3, 1925, in Utah. He was the son of Gertrude Bergant. He served in the 602nd Bomber Squadron, 398th Bomb Group, as a Staff Sergeant and Waist Gunner of B-17 #42-102610 nicknamed "Boomerang" during World War II.

On December 30, 1944, during a mission targeting Bischoffsheim, Germany, Boomerang failed to make the assembly and was seen trailing smoke before crashing into the English Channel off Beachy Head, UK. All nine crew members aboard were killed in action.

SSgt Bergant was reported Missing in Action and officially declared dead on December 30, 1944. His name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England. Joe Bergant's name is inscribed on the Anstey Window Memorial in Panel 2 (center), on Butterfly 11, in the top right wing (section B).

Source of information: B-17flyingfortress.de, www.americanairmuseum.com, www.398th.org