Quoted from Paul Wagners Book, The Youngest Crew
Staff Sergeant William (Tex) R. E. Stegall, the tail gunner came to the crew at the age of nineteen. Tex was nineteen years old when he was killed by a shrapnel fragment that found its way under his protective helmet and struck him in the back of the head killing him instantly. Doug crawled back into the tail and brought him back into the main part of the airplane so that he could administer first aid--an act of true heroism under the conditions. This tragedy occurred while on a raid to Berlin on March 18, 1945. We buried Tex in the U.S. Cemetery at Maddingly, just north of Cambridge, England. When I visited the cemetery in 1978 to pay my respects, I found that his body had been removed and sent back to the U.S., presumably to Bush, Texas whence he came although I have never been able to verify this.
Click here to read more:
Epilogue - The Eigth Air Force's Youngest Crews
"The Youngest Crew" - The Wagner Crew
Staff Sergeant William (Tex) R. E. Stegall, the tail gunner came to the crew at the age of nineteen. Tex was nineteen years old when he was killed by a shrapnel fragment that found its way under his protective helmet and struck him in the back of the head killing him instantly. Doug crawled back into the tail and brought him back into the main part of the airplane so that he could administer first aid--an act of true heroism under the conditions. This tragedy occurred while on a raid to Berlin on March 18, 1945. We buried Tex in the U.S. Cemetery at Maddingly, just north of Cambridge, England. When I visited the cemetery in 1978 to pay my respects, I found that his body had been removed and sent back to the U.S., presumably to Bush, Texas whence he came although I have never been able to verify this.
Click here to read more:
Epilogue - The Eigth Air Force's Youngest Crews
"The Youngest Crew" - The Wagner Crew
Quoted from Paul Wagners Book, The Youngest Crew
Staff Sergeant William (Tex) R. E. Stegall, the tail gunner came to the crew at the age of nineteen. Tex was nineteen years old when he was killed by a shrapnel fragment that found its way under his protective helmet and struck him in the back of the head killing him instantly. Doug crawled back into the tail and brought him back into the main part of the airplane so that he could administer first aid--an act of true heroism under the conditions. This tragedy occurred while on a raid to Berlin on March 18, 1945. We buried Tex in the U.S. Cemetery at Maddingly, just north of Cambridge, England. When I visited the cemetery in 1978 to pay my respects, I found that his body had been removed and sent back to the U.S., presumably to Bush, Texas whence he came although I have never been able to verify this.
Click here to read more:
Epilogue - The Eigth Air Force's Youngest Crews
"The Youngest Crew" - The Wagner Crew
Staff Sergeant William (Tex) R. E. Stegall, the tail gunner came to the crew at the age of nineteen. Tex was nineteen years old when he was killed by a shrapnel fragment that found its way under his protective helmet and struck him in the back of the head killing him instantly. Doug crawled back into the tail and brought him back into the main part of the airplane so that he could administer first aid--an act of true heroism under the conditions. This tragedy occurred while on a raid to Berlin on March 18, 1945. We buried Tex in the U.S. Cemetery at Maddingly, just north of Cambridge, England. When I visited the cemetery in 1978 to pay my respects, I found that his body had been removed and sent back to the U.S., presumably to Bush, Texas whence he came although I have never been able to verify this.
Click here to read more:
Epilogue - The Eigth Air Force's Youngest Crews
"The Youngest Crew" - The Wagner Crew
Gravesite Details
Son of Robert and Roxie Stegall, m. Gayla McLain (Sanders), SSgt, Army Air Force 600th Bomb Squadron WWII Note: Killed in action over Berlin, Awarded Air Medal
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