Cecil Thomas Haugen was born September 21, 1919 in Brookings, South Dakota to Thomas and Ruth (Somers) Haugen. The family lived in Fargo, North Dakota during the 1930 U. S. Census, then La Crosse, Wisconsin in the 1940 U. S. Census. Haugen graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with the class of 1941.

In November 1941, Haugen enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces from Denver County, Colorado. Service Numbers: 18046629 and O-661833. Major Haugen served with the 14th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group.

During WWII, the 7th Photographic Group was based at Royal Air Force Station Mount Farm in Oxfordshire, England. The Group was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for their photos taken over the Normandy coast in preparation for the D-Day invasion.

On June 28, 1944, Major Haugen was flying in bad weather near Oxfordshire, England. His Supermarine Spitfire XI, PL767, hit a tree at Manor Farm killing Major Haugen.

No memorial for Cecil Thomas Haugen has been located. Major Haugen was awarded the Purple Heart.

References

"WWII Army Enlistment". Fold3. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
"Cecil Thomas Haugen". Wisconsin Union. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
"Occurrence # 118850". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
"FRE 3265". American Air Museum. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
"Cecil Thomas Haugen". Family Search. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
"Cecil T Haugen". Honor States. Retrieved May 27, 2023.

Stories Behind the Stars

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see https://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 Together We Served and 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.

If you have any details, photos, or corrections for this story, please email me by clicking on my name.

Paul R. Albert - Contributing Author, Stories Behind the Stars

Cecil T Haugen