Raymond Gaar Mears was born on April 4, 1919 in Maryland. In 1943, Mears enlisted in the Army. Mears became a sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Force and served as the waist gunner for the 36th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, during World War II. On November 10, 1944, SGT Mears' B-24 Liberator crashed when it received flak during a secret mission jamming German radars in conjunction with a Royal Air Force attack. With two of its engines failing, the B-24 crashed just north of Tincourt-Boucly in the Bois de Buire. Although the pilot gave the order to bail out, SGT Mears and 2LT Grey stayed and attempted to free SGT Bartho from the nose turret before the crash. All three men died in the crash. Although his official grave is in Maryland, most of the remains of Raymond Mears, as well as Grey and Bartho, are buried in a common grave in the Cartigny Communal Cemetery, 5 kilometers southwest of the crash site.