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Personal info

Full name
HOGANSON, Harvey G
Date of birth
18 June 1924
Age
20
Place of birth
Glen Ellyn, DuPage County, Illinois
Hometown
Glen Ellyn, DuPage County, Illinois

Military service

Service number
36653188
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Right Waist Gunner
Unit
578th Bombardment Squadron,
392nd Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
11 September 1944
Place of death
At the edge of the woods 400 meters northwest of the village of Winnen, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
P 9 11

Immediate family

Members
William N. Hoganson (father)
Amelia E. (Horlacher) Hoganson (mother)
Melvin Hoganson (brother)
Myrtle D. Hoganson (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-7466
Data
Type: B-24H
Nickname: Ford's Folly
Destination: Hannover, Germany
Mission: Bombing of an engine factory
MACR: 8850

More information

S/Sgt Harvey G. Hoganson attended Glenbard High School in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

After the war, a surviving crew member, S/Sgt Odell F. Dobson, gave the following statement: "Going to the target we were attacked by enemy fighters (Me-109s). Number three (3) engine was hit and set afire; fire broke out in the bomb bay and we lost the formation as a result of these damages. The airplane went into a shallow dive and the crew prepared to bail out. Before this could be accomplished, however, the airplane started to spin and crashed."

Two crew members survived and were taken prisoner. Eight were killed. The bodies of two crew members were found about 20 meters from the wreckage and an unknown number of remains were found in the wreckage itself. All were buried by a German army team in the cemetery at Winnen.

S/Sgt. Hoganson was accounted for at least three enemy fighter planes. Two of these Me-I09s were seen to explode and one was seen to dive by the right wing completely enveloped in flames after it was hit by S/Sgt. Hoganson’s machine-gun fire. The third time he was shot and was unable to return fire. He was last seen laying on the floor bleeding about the face and head. He made the supreme sacrifice willingly and with utter disregard for his own safety.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.b24net/missions/index.htm, www.ancestry.com - Family Trees

Photo source: www.ancestry.com - Glenbard High School Yearbook 1942, 392nd Bomb Group, Swiston Andrew