Sgt. Clifton Louis Davidson was killed in action over Cesena, Italy, on 25 April 1944. Born in 1923 in Massachusetts, Clifton, known to his family and friends as "Biff," he was the son of Louis Davidson, a veteran of the Pershing Expedition into Mexico (1916) and of the First World War, and his wife Ella (nee Moore) Davidson.
Clifton served as a waist gunner in the US Army Air Corps. On a bombing mission, Clifton's B-24 Liberator, the "Maiden USA," was shot down by German fighter planes, with only three survivors able to parachute from the plane before it crashed into the ground. Clifton's body, nor that of the other 5 men killed in the crash, could not be positively identified; all the men killed in the crash were buried in a mass grave. Their remains were exhumed from a military cemetery in Italy after the end of the war and reinterred in the Zachary Taylor Military Cemetery in Kentucky.
The other five men identified by the War Department as being KIA (killed in action) in the crash are:
1. 2nd Lt. Wayne H. Sullivan
2. 2nd Lt. William J. Kelly
3. Sgt. Francis G. Miliauskas
4. Sgt. Anthony Raffoni
5. Sgt. Vernon L. Coil
In total, with Sgt. Davidson, six of the ten men aboard were KIA, and four others were seized as prisoners of war (POWs) by the Germans.
It is not known if all of these men are buried in this specific grave, although it appears to be so.
The POWs who were taken are:
1. 2nd Lt. Harmond M. Dessler, Pilot
2. 2nd Lt. William H. Harvey
3. Sgt. Bruce P. Hanson
4. Sgt. James H. Mays
According to the War Department, all of these men were "returned" to the United States at the end of the war.
They lived as heroes, they died as heroes, and they will always remain as heroes.
__________________________
"The Soldier's Grave"
Eliza P. Nicholson
Tread lightly, 'tis a soldier's grave,
A lonely mossy mound,
And yet to hearts like mine and thine,
It should be holy ground.
Speak softly, let no careless laugh,
No idle, thoughtless jest,
Escape your lips where sweetly sleeps
The hero in his rest.
For him, no reveille will beat,
When morning beams shall come;
For him, at night, no tattoo rolls
Its thunders from the drum.
No costly marble marks the place
Recording deeds of fame,
But rudely on that bending tree
Is carved the soldier's name.
A name not dear to us, but, ah!
Thee may be lips that breathe
That name as sacredly and low
As vespers prayers at eve.
There may be brows that wear for him
The mourning cypress vine;
And hearts that make this lonely grave
A holy pilgrim shrine
There may be eyes that joyed to gaze
With love into his own,
Now keeping midnight vigils long
With silent grief alone.
There may be hands now clasped in prayer
This soldier's hand has pressed;
And cheeks washed pale by sorrow's tears,
His own cold cheek caressed.
Tread lightly; For a man bequeathed,
Ere laid beneath this sod,
His ashes to his native land,
His gallant soul to God!
________________________
Clifton served as a waist gunner in the US Army Air Corps. On a bombing mission, Clifton's B-24 Liberator, the "Maiden USA," was shot down by German fighter planes, with only three survivors able to parachute from the plane before it crashed into the ground. Clifton's body, nor that of the other 5 men killed in the crash, could not be positively identified; all the men killed in the crash were buried in a mass grave. Their remains were exhumed from a military cemetery in Italy after the end of the war and reinterred in the Zachary Taylor Military Cemetery in Kentucky.
The other five men identified by the War Department as being KIA (killed in action) in the crash are:
1. 2nd Lt. Wayne H. Sullivan
2. 2nd Lt. William J. Kelly
3. Sgt. Francis G. Miliauskas
4. Sgt. Anthony Raffoni
5. Sgt. Vernon L. Coil
In total, with Sgt. Davidson, six of the ten men aboard were KIA, and four others were seized as prisoners of war (POWs) by the Germans.
It is not known if all of these men are buried in this specific grave, although it appears to be so.
The POWs who were taken are:
1. 2nd Lt. Harmond M. Dessler, Pilot
2. 2nd Lt. William H. Harvey
3. Sgt. Bruce P. Hanson
4. Sgt. James H. Mays
According to the War Department, all of these men were "returned" to the United States at the end of the war.
They lived as heroes, they died as heroes, and they will always remain as heroes.
__________________________
"The Soldier's Grave"
Eliza P. Nicholson
Tread lightly, 'tis a soldier's grave,
A lonely mossy mound,
And yet to hearts like mine and thine,
It should be holy ground.
Speak softly, let no careless laugh,
No idle, thoughtless jest,
Escape your lips where sweetly sleeps
The hero in his rest.
For him, no reveille will beat,
When morning beams shall come;
For him, at night, no tattoo rolls
Its thunders from the drum.
No costly marble marks the place
Recording deeds of fame,
But rudely on that bending tree
Is carved the soldier's name.
A name not dear to us, but, ah!
Thee may be lips that breathe
That name as sacredly and low
As vespers prayers at eve.
There may be brows that wear for him
The mourning cypress vine;
And hearts that make this lonely grave
A holy pilgrim shrine
There may be eyes that joyed to gaze
With love into his own,
Now keeping midnight vigils long
With silent grief alone.
There may be hands now clasped in prayer
This soldier's hand has pressed;
And cheeks washed pale by sorrow's tears,
His own cold cheek caressed.
Tread lightly; For a man bequeathed,
Ere laid beneath this sod,
His ashes to his native land,
His gallant soul to God!
________________________
Sgt. Clifton Louis Davidson was killed in action over Cesena, Italy, on 25 April 1944. Born in 1923 in Massachusetts, Clifton, known to his family and friends as "Biff," he was the son of Louis Davidson, a veteran of the Pershing Expedition into Mexico (1916) and of the First World War, and his wife Ella (nee Moore) Davidson.
Clifton served as a waist gunner in the US Army Air Corps. On a bombing mission, Clifton's B-24 Liberator, the "Maiden USA," was shot down by German fighter planes, with only three survivors able to parachute from the plane before it crashed into the ground. Clifton's body, nor that of the other 5 men killed in the crash, could not be positively identified; all the men killed in the crash were buried in a mass grave. Their remains were exhumed from a military cemetery in Italy after the end of the war and reinterred in the Zachary Taylor Military Cemetery in Kentucky.
The other five men identified by the War Department as being KIA (killed in action) in the crash are:
1. 2nd Lt. Wayne H. Sullivan
2. 2nd Lt. William J. Kelly
3. Sgt. Francis G. Miliauskas
4. Sgt. Anthony Raffoni
5. Sgt. Vernon L. Coil
In total, with Sgt. Davidson, six of the ten men aboard were KIA, and four others were seized as prisoners of war (POWs) by the Germans.
It is not known if all of these men are buried in this specific grave, although it appears to be so.
The POWs who were taken are:
1. 2nd Lt. Harmond M. Dessler, Pilot
2. 2nd Lt. William H. Harvey
3. Sgt. Bruce P. Hanson
4. Sgt. James H. Mays
According to the War Department, all of these men were "returned" to the United States at the end of the war.
They lived as heroes, they died as heroes, and they will always remain as heroes.
__________________________
"The Soldier's Grave"
Eliza P. Nicholson
Tread lightly, 'tis a soldier's grave,
A lonely mossy mound,
And yet to hearts like mine and thine,
It should be holy ground.
Speak softly, let no careless laugh,
No idle, thoughtless jest,
Escape your lips where sweetly sleeps
The hero in his rest.
For him, no reveille will beat,
When morning beams shall come;
For him, at night, no tattoo rolls
Its thunders from the drum.
No costly marble marks the place
Recording deeds of fame,
But rudely on that bending tree
Is carved the soldier's name.
A name not dear to us, but, ah!
Thee may be lips that breathe
That name as sacredly and low
As vespers prayers at eve.
There may be brows that wear for him
The mourning cypress vine;
And hearts that make this lonely grave
A holy pilgrim shrine
There may be eyes that joyed to gaze
With love into his own,
Now keeping midnight vigils long
With silent grief alone.
There may be hands now clasped in prayer
This soldier's hand has pressed;
And cheeks washed pale by sorrow's tears,
His own cold cheek caressed.
Tread lightly; For a man bequeathed,
Ere laid beneath this sod,
His ashes to his native land,
His gallant soul to God!
________________________
Clifton served as a waist gunner in the US Army Air Corps. On a bombing mission, Clifton's B-24 Liberator, the "Maiden USA," was shot down by German fighter planes, with only three survivors able to parachute from the plane before it crashed into the ground. Clifton's body, nor that of the other 5 men killed in the crash, could not be positively identified; all the men killed in the crash were buried in a mass grave. Their remains were exhumed from a military cemetery in Italy after the end of the war and reinterred in the Zachary Taylor Military Cemetery in Kentucky.
The other five men identified by the War Department as being KIA (killed in action) in the crash are:
1. 2nd Lt. Wayne H. Sullivan
2. 2nd Lt. William J. Kelly
3. Sgt. Francis G. Miliauskas
4. Sgt. Anthony Raffoni
5. Sgt. Vernon L. Coil
In total, with Sgt. Davidson, six of the ten men aboard were KIA, and four others were seized as prisoners of war (POWs) by the Germans.
It is not known if all of these men are buried in this specific grave, although it appears to be so.
The POWs who were taken are:
1. 2nd Lt. Harmond M. Dessler, Pilot
2. 2nd Lt. William H. Harvey
3. Sgt. Bruce P. Hanson
4. Sgt. James H. Mays
According to the War Department, all of these men were "returned" to the United States at the end of the war.
They lived as heroes, they died as heroes, and they will always remain as heroes.
__________________________
"The Soldier's Grave"
Eliza P. Nicholson
Tread lightly, 'tis a soldier's grave,
A lonely mossy mound,
And yet to hearts like mine and thine,
It should be holy ground.
Speak softly, let no careless laugh,
No idle, thoughtless jest,
Escape your lips where sweetly sleeps
The hero in his rest.
For him, no reveille will beat,
When morning beams shall come;
For him, at night, no tattoo rolls
Its thunders from the drum.
No costly marble marks the place
Recording deeds of fame,
But rudely on that bending tree
Is carved the soldier's name.
A name not dear to us, but, ah!
Thee may be lips that breathe
That name as sacredly and low
As vespers prayers at eve.
There may be brows that wear for him
The mourning cypress vine;
And hearts that make this lonely grave
A holy pilgrim shrine
There may be eyes that joyed to gaze
With love into his own,
Now keeping midnight vigils long
With silent grief alone.
There may be hands now clasped in prayer
This soldier's hand has pressed;
And cheeks washed pale by sorrow's tears,
His own cold cheek caressed.
Tread lightly; For a man bequeathed,
Ere laid beneath this sod,
His ashes to his native land,
His gallant soul to God!
________________________
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
