James Baxter Dick Jr was in 15 December 1923 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the son of James Baxter and Ruth DeMilt Ehlen Dick, who were both born in Ohio. His father was a produce buyer for a grocery chain. He had a younger brother. James was a high school graduate.

Enlisted in the Army Air Corps on 18 November 1942 Los Angeles County, CA. He was 5’7” and weighed 159 pounds. He had blue eyes, brown hair, a dark complexion and scars on his right leg. He was a college student in Los Angeles at that time.

On 8 April 1944 he was an Engineer, 733rd Bomber Squadron-453rd Bomber Group, Heavy. The Miss Minnesota B-24 #42-64464 was shot down by German fighters near Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany.

The picture in this gallery has the men identified as follows:

"Miss Minnesota" – Standing (L-R): Sgt. James B. Dick – Engineer; Pvt. Calvert S. Whitehurst - Ball Turret Gunner; Sgt. Paul W. Cullinan - Top Turret Gunner; Sgt. Willis W. Cole - Nose Gunner; Sgt. Vincent J. Pale - Radio Operator; Sgt. Fred L. Fisher, Jr - Tail Gunner. Kneeling (L-R): Lt. William H. Myra – Navigator; Lt. August V. Bergman – Pilot; Lt. John B. Durborow - Co-Pilot; Lt. Kyle R. Goff – Bombardier. Source: Don Olds and the b24bestweb research team, used by permission. Note: Myra was made lead navigator the day of the mission and was replaced by Lt. Richard Crown. All were killed except for Sgt Vince Pale, Radio Operator, who bailed out and spent the remainder of the war as a POW in Stalag 17, was the only survivor

The crew was initially buried at the cemetery at Wistedt. The crew could be identified by the Germans at the time. Wistedt is near Salzwedel in province of Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany.

In The Los Angeles Times 17 May 1944 edition, James is listed as missing in action by the War Department. He was buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, Neupre, Belgium-Plot D Row 8 Grave 34.

TSgt James Baxter Dick Jr was awarded the following commendations:★ Air Medal★ Purple Heart★ World War II Victory Medal★ American Campaign Medal★ Army Presidential Unit Citation★ Army Good Conduct Medal and ★ European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign

A grateful nation honors his service and keeps his memory alive.

This story was created by researching numerous records. These included census records, military application for headstone, World War II Army Enlistment Record, Findagrave.com , Newspapers.com articles, Honorstates.org, records of the 453rd Bombardment Group, mission reports etc.

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 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories?

T/Sgt James Baxter Dick Jr.