John Hammill Grogan was born on January 29, 1921, in Rockingham County, North Carolina. He was the son of Frank E. Grogan and Susie Hamill Read. He was married to Margaret Hinton Glidewell Smith. He served in the 723rd Bomber Squadron, 450th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Staff Sergeant and Flight Engineer of B-24 #41-29226 nicknamed ''Leaky Tub'' during World War II.

On February 23, 1944, the B-24 Liberator “Leaky Tub” was lost during a bombing mission over Austria. Flying out of Manduria Airfield in southern Italy, the aircraft was part of a large 15th Air Force formation targeting heavily defended industrial and transportation sites in southern Germany and Austria. As the formation crossed into Austrian airspace near Steyr, “Leaky Tub” came under intense fire from German fighters and anti-aircraft guns. The aircraft sustained heavy damage and ultimately went down near the Kematen an der Krems/Lambach area. Of the eleven crew members aboard, ten were killed in action, while one survived and was taken as a prisoner of war.

SSgt Grogan was Killed in Action and is now buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial, Saint-Avold, Departement de la Moselle, Lorraine, France.

Source of information: www.450thbg.com, www.facebook.com/Aviano Air Base, www.findagrave.com