Philip G. Bedwell was born on December 15, 1919, in Marion, Grant County, Indiana. He was the son of Grant H. Bedwell and Eva Lois Keene Bedwell. He enlisted in the service on December 15, 1919. He served in the 328th Bomber Squadron, 93rd Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Staff Sergeant and Waist Gunner of B-24D #41-23711 nicknamed ''Jerks Natural'' during World War II.

On October 1, 1943, the B-24D “Jerk’s Natural” was returning from a bombing mission over Wiener Neustadt, Austria, when it fell behind its formation and was attacked by German fighters. The aircraft was heavily damaged, entered a spin, and crashed into the mountains northeast of Graz, near Heilbrunn and Brandlucken in the Austrian region of Styria. Nine of the ten crew members were killed in the crash, with only the navigator surviving and taken as a prisoner of war.

SSgt Bedwell was Killed in Action and is now buried in the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay Township, St. Louis County, Missouri, USA. He also has a cenotaph in the Grant Memorial Park, Marion, Grant County, Indiana.
Source of information: www.flickr.com, www.americanairmuseum.com