Lived in Seco, Letcher County, Kentucky and Roanoke, Virginia

Remembrance marker in Norton, Virginia

Enlisted on 5 May 1941 in Roanoke, Virginia

Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Force, 13034781

381st Bomber Group, Heavy, 535th Bomber Squadron

Ball Turret Gunner on B-17G Flying Fortress #42-31111 (Four Aces Pat Hand) - Crew of 10

★ Distinguished Flying Cross

★ Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters

Missing in Action during a bombing mission over Leverkusen, Germany

Left from Ridgewell, England

On 1 December 1943, U.S. bombers conducted an air raid targeting Leverkusen, Germany. The lead plane in one formation was B-17G Flying Fortress #42-31111 with a crew of ten. About five minutes before reaching the target, this B-17G was struck by enemy flak but appeared unaffected. Immediately after releasing its bombs, the B-17G slowed down and lost altitude, turning away from the formation. Eyewitnesses in other aircraft watched the descending aircraft until it fell below cloud-level. Approximately ten minutes later, German eyewitnesses reported seeing a large plane crash and explode in the Rhine River near Buderich, Germany. No parachutes were observed. The reported crash site was roughly twenty miles from the bombardment target in Leverkusen, a distance that the B-17G could have covered in the ten minutes between when it left formation and when the crash occurred. All ten members of the crew were presumed lost in the crash.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed this case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.

MACR 1659

MIA Crew;

Pilot - 2LT Donald E. Noxon

Co-Pilot - 2LT George D. Giovannini

Navigator - 2LT Edison Eichhorn

Bombardier - 2LT Walter Utley

Engineer/Top Turret Gunner - T/SGT Peter K. Ludwigsen

Radio Operator - T/SGT Toby E. Phillips, Jr.

Ball Turret Gunner - S/SGT John E. Thompson, Jr.

Left Waist Gunner - S/SGT Harry M. Thompson

Right Waist Gunner - S/SGT Paul T. Mogush

Tail Gunner - S/SGT John S. Channell