Jackson Palmer Jr was born, 3 July 1917 at Cambridge, Massachusetts to the parents of Colonel Jackson Palmer and Caroline B Besarick. His father served in the Coast Artillery and Field Artillery WWI. Also Field Artillery and Air Corps procurement in WWII. His father had graduated from Harvard Law School in 1908 and was a lawyer.

He was a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy in 1935 and was the intercollegiate chess champion in his freshman year at Harvard, where he graduated in 1939. He was doing research in metallurgy when he joined the Air Corps in 1943. He received his wings at San Marcos, Texas, December 1943. He left Kearny, Nebraska in the spring of 1944 to go overseas.

He was assigned to the 358th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force. On 28 May 1944, Lieutenant Determan’s crew departed Molesworth, England for mission 376 to bomb an oil refinery at Leipzig, Germany. They were shot down by flak. The plane crashed 8 miles east of Leipzig. Three of the crew bailed out and became POWs. The rest of the crew perished.

2-Lt. Determan’s Crew, 28 May 1944, B-17G, #42-107028, Leipzig,Germany, MACR-5340

2-Lt. Alvin Gordon Determan, Pilot, O-753987, from Minnesota ***

2-Lt. Ervin Joseph Pfahler, Co-Pilot, O-695081, from Ohio

2-Lt. Jackson Palmer Jr, Nav., O-703788, from Massachusetts

2-Lt. James Alfred McCamy, Bmbrdr, O-757893, from Alabama

S-Sgt. Robert Herbert Asman, Rad.Op., 32719803, from Vermont ***

S-Sgt. Milton Clay Hendrickson Jr, Eng/TopTurr.Gnnr, 6999785, from Maryland

Sgt. Wayne Edgar Cope, TailGnnr, 16031788, from Illinois ***

Sgt. Manuel Salas Vasquez, BallTurrGnnr, 39693071, from California

Sgt. Albert Raffaele Carroccia, WiastGnnr, 20840217, from New York

Sgt. Acel Earl Livingston, WaistGnnr, 39835517, from Utah

*** 3 survived/POWs: Determan, died 2004; Asman, died 1997; Cope, died 2011

Second Lieutenant Jackson Palmer Jr was buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery. His Service Number was O-703788.

References

From - ancestry.com:

Family Trees

From - Fold3.com:

Service Record

MACR 5340: Missing Air Crew Report of B-17, #42-107028, 28 May 44 (46 pages)

From - newspapers.com:

Evening Star (Washington DC), 10 July 1944

Evening Star (Washington DC), 19 September 1944

Boston Globe, 6 June 1957

Online Resources:

AmericanAirMuseum.com: Report of loss of B-17, #42-107028, 28 May 44

Findagrave:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56302499/jackson-palmer

Findagrave Memorial ID: 56302499

SBTS:

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery. If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please email: feedback@storiesbehindthestars.org.

SBTS Project/Massachusetts

Jackson Palmer, Jr