Casimir served as a Staff Sergeant and Right Waist Gunner on B-17F "Stinky Jr" #41-24342, 414th Bomber Squadron, 97th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II.

He resided in Baltimore, Maryland prior to the war.

He enlisted in the Army on September 7, 1942 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Foremen and also as Single, with dependents.

B-17F #41-24342 took off, with a crew of 10, from Tunisia on a bombing mission over Foggia, Italy. The were hit by ground anti-aircraft fire over their target and were basically seen disintegrating in the air by those on other aircraft. Three of the crew were able to parachute out of the plane before it disintegrated and the other seven crew members perished.

Casimir was "Killed In Action" in this crash during the war.

He was awarded the "Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters" and the Purple Heart.

Service # 33374554

( Bio by: Russ Pickett )

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Those who perished on B-17F #41-24342:

Bispham, William A. ~ 2nd Lt, Pilot, FL

Blagg, Everett W. ~ 2nd Lt, Navigator, OH

Cahill, Albert E. ~ S/Sgt, Tail Gunner, NJ

Chester, Casimir A. ~ S/Sgt, Right Waist Gunner, MD

Dudgeon, Roy V. ~ T/Sgt, Engineer, TX

Grogan, Edwin F. ~ S/Sgt, Radio Operator, MA

Schlesinger, Morton J. ~ Sgt, Ball Turret Gunner, NY https://www.fold3.com/page/529936688/morton-j-schlesinger/stories

( Crew report by: Russ Pickett )

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

Casimir A Chester