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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
Personal info
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