Gene lived with his aunt Isabella Darter Gilley and her husband Tip Gilley after the death of his parents. Isabella was his father's sister. Gene was 2 years old when his father died and 8 when his mother died. He joined the service in Roanoke Va. at the age of 19. His service no was 13035242, SSG AAf at the time- his plane was "lost" in 1943, somewhere in the north Atlantic Ocean and his body was not recovered.

Field Title Value Meaning
ARMY SERIAL NUMBER 13035242 13035242
NAME DARTER#EUGENE########### DARTER#EUGENE###########
RESIDENCE: STATE 48 TENNESSEE
RESIDENCE: COUNTY 163 SULLIVAN
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT 3387 ROANOKE VIRGINIA
DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY 25 25
DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH 07 07
DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR 41 41
GRADE: ALPHA DESIGNATION PVT# Private
GRADE: CODE 8 Private
BRANCH: ALPHA DESIGNATION AC# Air Corps
BRANCH: CODE 20 Air Corps
FIELD USE AS DESIRED # #
TERM OF ENLISTMENT 6 Enlistment for the Panama Canal Department
LONGEVITY ### ###
SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL 0 Civil Life
NATIVITY 33 VIRGINIA
YEAR OF BIRTH 22 22
RACE AND CITIZENSHIP 1 White, citizen
EDUCATION 2 2 years of high school
CIVILIAN OCCUPATION 227 Waiters and waitresses, except private family
MARITAL STATUS 6 Single, without dependents
COMPONENT OF THE ARMY 1 Regular Army (including Officers, Nurses, Warrant Officers, and Enlisted Men)
CARD NUMBER # #
BOX NUMBER 0117 0117
FILM REEL NUMBER 1.117 1.117
SSGT USAAF WWII
ASN 13035242
447th BG, 708th B Sq
Gunner

He was the son of William Smith Darter and Elizabeth Brown. He had three brothers who served in WWII, W S 'Bill' Darter, Army Air Force, Henry Darter, USN, and Roy Darter, USN. He married Ruth Pierson of Westview, Tennessee. He enlisted in the service 25 July 1941 at Roanoke, Virginia.

He entered the service when he was residing in Sullivan County, Tennessee.
Additional information about SSgt Darter can be found here-
http://etvma.org/web/index.php?guestaction=displayveteran&uid=10636&displaytype=web


He and his crew were lost at sea in B-17G #42-37865 over the Atlantic en route to Rattlesden Air Base. Their flight had taken off from Goose Bay, North Labrador, Canada on the way to Prestwick, Scotland. Radio contact was made at approximately 85 miles en route over the Atlantic, reporting to sister ship, 'everything ok', however, no further contact was made and the crew was not heard from again.