Leo Edward DeGraw was a member of the US Air Corps, 385Th Bomb Group, 551St Bomb Squadron. He was one of ten Crew Members aboard the "Fighting Cock" (B-17) that experienced mechanical problems while returning from a bombing mission above Bordeaux, France on December 5, 1943 and dropped out of formation. The Crew was fired upon by two German Fighter planes after dropping out of formation and the B-17 was ditched in the Bay of Biscay (off the coast of France). According to the last survivor of the crash, S/SGT., Stewart H. Day Jr. (from Bath, ME), upon exiting the downed B-17 on life rafts, the 10 Crew members were fired upon from the shore by, what later proved to be Indian Soldiers (once in the British Army) who had been captured by Germans in North Africa. The Indians were fighting for the Germans. Of the 10 Crew Members aboard the B-17, Leo was one, along with six others that lost their life. His body was never recovered. However, three surviving Crew Members were taken as Prisoners of War. Tablets honoring Soldiers, Airmen, and Sailors missing in action or buried at Sea in WWII can be found at Rhone American Cemetery in France.
1ST. LT. Theodore Kleuser, was the pilot of the B17, named, "The Fightling Cock" that ditched in the Bay of Biscay that frightful day in 1943. According to the last living survivor of the crash, Stewart Day (tail gunner), "He said the pilot, Ted Kleuser, made a beautiful landing on the water - like Chesley Sullenberger did when he landed the Airbus 320, US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009 - smooth and very good".
1ST. LT. Theodore Kleuser, was the pilot of the B17, named, "The Fightling Cock" that ditched in the Bay of Biscay that frightful day in 1943. According to the last living survivor of the crash, Stewart Day (tail gunner), "He said the pilot, Ted Kleuser, made a beautiful landing on the water - like Chesley Sullenberger did when he landed the Airbus 320, US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009 - smooth and very good".
Leo Edward DeGraw was a member of the US Air Corps, 385Th Bomb Group, 551St Bomb Squadron. He was one of ten Crew Members aboard the "Fighting Cock" (B-17) that experienced mechanical problems while returning from a bombing mission above Bordeaux, France on December 5, 1943 and dropped out of formation. The Crew was fired upon by two German Fighter planes after dropping out of formation and the B-17 was ditched in the Bay of Biscay (off the coast of France). According to the last survivor of the crash, S/SGT., Stewart H. Day Jr. (from Bath, ME), upon exiting the downed B-17 on life rafts, the 10 Crew members were fired upon from the shore by, what later proved to be Indian Soldiers (once in the British Army) who had been captured by Germans in North Africa. The Indians were fighting for the Germans. Of the 10 Crew Members aboard the B-17, Leo was one, along with six others that lost their life. His body was never recovered. However, three surviving Crew Members were taken as Prisoners of War. Tablets honoring Soldiers, Airmen, and Sailors missing in action or buried at Sea in WWII can be found at Rhone American Cemetery in France.
1ST. LT. Theodore Kleuser, was the pilot of the B17, named, "The Fightling Cock" that ditched in the Bay of Biscay that frightful day in 1943. According to the last living survivor of the crash, Stewart Day (tail gunner), "He said the pilot, Ted Kleuser, made a beautiful landing on the water - like Chesley Sullenberger did when he landed the Airbus 320, US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009 - smooth and very good".
1ST. LT. Theodore Kleuser, was the pilot of the B17, named, "The Fightling Cock" that ditched in the Bay of Biscay that frightful day in 1943. According to the last living survivor of the crash, Stewart Day (tail gunner), "He said the pilot, Ted Kleuser, made a beautiful landing on the water - like Chesley Sullenberger did when he landed the Airbus 320, US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009 - smooth and very good".
Inscription
S SGT 561 BOMB SQ 385 BOMB GP/H/ NJ
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from New Jersey.
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