Second Lieutenant Cletus B. Nale (O-814735) was born April 3, 1923 in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, to Walter Longwell and Edna May Culbertson Nale. His father was a farmer. Cletus had three brothers and six sisters.

Cletus was single and had two years of High School when he enlisted in the Army Air Corps at Milroy, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Cletus earned his wings as a P-47 fighter pilot and received his commission as a Second Lieutenant. He was assigned to the 61st Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group, Eighth Air Force.

Royal Air Force Boxted (AAF-150) was located 4 miles north-northeast of Colchester, Essex, England. It was the home base of the 56th Fighter Group (61st, 62nd, 63rd Fighter Squadrons) of the Eighth Air Force. Flying the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, the 56th FG was the most successful of the Eighth Air Force groups in air-to-air combat. It engaged in counter-air and interdictory missions during the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Supported Allied forces for the breakthrough at Saint-Lô in July and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 to January 1945. Helped to defend the Remagen bridgehead against air attacks in March 1945. The 56th Fighter Group occupied AAF-150 from April 19, 1944 to September 15, 1945.

On May 22, 1944, 2 Lt. Nale, piloting P-47D-6RE Thunderbolt No. 42-75742, departed AAF-150 on a bomber escort mission (Rodeo) to targets around Bremen, Germany, 345 miles to the northeast. 2 Lt. Nale was shot down on a strafing mission near Westerwalsede. Lieutenant Colonel Francis S. Gabreski was the last to sight him. A parachute was seen. MACR 5398

According to German report J-1190, he was found dead at a crash site one-half mile south of Süder-Walsede/Verden, Germany, which is 25 miles southeast of Bremen.

2 Lt. Nale was killed in action on May 22, 1944 at 1230 hours at Süder-Walsede/Verden, Germany. He was 21 years old.

2 Lt. Nale is buried in the Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial at Neuville-en-Condroz, Neupré, Belgium in Plot D, Row 11, Grave 40. This cemetery is the final resting place for 5,329 Americans, with 65 percent of those being fallen airmen of the U.S. Army Air Forces. Their headstones are aligned in straight rows that compose the form of a Greek cross. Along the outside of the memorial, 463 names are inscribed on the granite Tablets of the Missing.

He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.

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.

SBTSProject/Pennsylvania

If you noticed anything

erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it,

please contact me at roktscientist@hotmail.com.

Sources:

1. 1930, 1940 U.S. Census

2. https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=1&cat=WR26&tf=F&q=Cletus+B+Nale&bc=sl&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=688407

3. https://www.fieldsofhonor-database.com/index.php/en/american-war-cemetery-ardennes-n/47833-nale-cletus-b

4. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56360013/cletus-b-nale

5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/56th_Operations_Group

6. https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/cletus-b-nale

7. https://militaryhallofhonor.com/honoree-record.php?id=47475

8. https://www.ancestry.com

9. https://wwiiregistry.abmc.gov/honoree-plaque/?honoree_id=1337903

10. https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/nale%3Dcletus

11. https://www.armyaircorpsmuseum.org/56th_Fighter_Group.cfm

12. https://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ROHSBV&type=Person&ID=165820

13. https://www.8af.org/nale-cletus-n4735-56fg.cfm

14. http://www.56thfightergroup.co.uk/

15. http://www.56thfightergroup.co.uk/personnel.htm

16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/61st_Fighter_Squadron

17. https://www.luke.af.mil/Portals/58/61%20Fighter%20Squadron%20as%20of%2020220225_1.pdf

18. https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/unit/61st-fighter-squadron

19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_P-47_Thunderbolt

20. Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.

21. “Zemke’s Wolfpack: A Photographic Odyssey of the 56th Fighter Group during World War II,” Peter Randall and Nigel Julian, Fighting High Limited, 2015.

Nale, Cletus B., 2nd Lt