Albert "Bert" Ray Tollitson was born 15 Oct 1920, in Tampico Municipality, Tamaulpas, Mexico, to Delos Nelson Sr and Nell Mahala (Hancock) Tillotson. He was the second of 4 children born to this union. He had an older sister, a younger sister and brother. His brother, Delos, served with the US Army during World War II and survived. I could not find Albert and his family in the 1940 census, but they were probably living in Texas, and Albert was still in school.

Albert enlisted in the US Army on 13 Feb 1943, from Fort Jackson, Richland, South Carolina. I find no other military records for him until he was KIA. From his www.findagrave.com memorial comes:

"Brother of Donald E. Tillotson who resided in Apartado 748, Tampico, Tampa, Mexico.

Albert served as a Sergeant & Engineer on C-47A #42-93095, 91st Troop Carrier Squadron, 439th Troop Carrier, Group, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

He resided in Texas prior to the war.

He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on November 6, 1942 in San Antonio, Texas. He was note, at the time of his enlistment, as being a United States Citizen and also as Single, without dependents.

Albert was "Killed In Action" when his C-47A was believed to have been shot down by German anti-aircraft fire during the Normandy invasion and crashed at Beuzeville-au-Plain, Manche, France during the war.

He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.

He was originally interred overseas and was later repatriated here on March 27, 1951.

Service # 18201054

The reason he is named on a group headstone is because when soldier's were killed in close proximity to each other they were unable, at that time, to identify them separately and interred their remains together in one grave.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There were five crew members and 17 paratroopers on this flight and they all perished in the crash. The passengers were members of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division made famous by the series:

"Band Of Brothers".

Crew who perished on C-47A #42-93095:

Capelluto, Harold A ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, NY

Fanelli, John J ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot, IL

Friedman, Bernard ~ 2nd Lt, Navigator, NY

Thompson, Norman E ~ Sgt, Radio Operator, IL

Tillotson, Albert R, Jr ~ Sgt, Engineer, DC

Passengers who perished on C-47A #42-93095:

Meehan, Thomas, III ~ 1st Lt, PA

( Company Commander, Easy Company )

Collins, Herman F Tech/5, MA

Elliott, George L ~ Pvt, VA

Evans, William S ~ 1/Sgt, TX

McGonigal, William T, Jr ~ Pfc, CT

Miller, John N ~ Pfc, VA

Moya, Sergio G ~ PFC, CA

Murray, Elmer L, Jr ~ Sgt, CA

Oats, Ernest L ~ Pvt, IL

Owen, Richard E ~ Sgt, VA

Riggs, Carl N ~ Sgt, CA

Roberts, Murray B ~ S/Sgt, FL

Snider, Gerald R Pfc, OH

Telstad, Elmer L PFC, WI

Warren, Thomas W ~ Pfc, GA

Wentzel, Jerry A Tec/5, MT

Wimer, Ralph H Tech/5, WV

Bio, Crew, & Passenger Report by:

Russell S. "Russ" Pickett

Special thanks to:

ShaneO for submitting this record for bio updates!"

He was awarded the Purple Heart and Air Medal.. Members of the C-47A were initially buried in a mass grave in Normandie, France, then removed to be buried in a mass grave in the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in Lemay, St Louis, Missouri.

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? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

Albert R Tillotson Jr