Atchley Jr. , William Thomas

Rank and Name, William Thomas Atchley Jr.

Unit/Placed in, 98th Bomber Squadron, 11th Bomber Group, Heavy.

William is born approx. on 3 Dec. 1920 in Sofia, New Mexico.

Father, William T. Atchley.

Mother, Etharetta B. (Thomas) Atchley.

Sister(s), Violet B. and Genvieve L. Achtley.

Brother(s), Burdean B. Forrest S. John D. and Albert E. Atchley.

William enlisted the service in New Mexico with service number # 38166968.

William ‘s Crew-members and their position on-board the plane a B- were,

1^st Lt. Arthur W. Suajanen Pilot

2^nd Lt. Anthony F. Eckhart Co Pilot

2^nd Lt. William S. Bowman Navigator

Capt. Howard M. Bazemore Jr. Bombardier

2^nd Lt. Emil A. Nummi Asst. Bombardier

T/Sgt. Harry O’Shean Engineer

S/Sgt. Alex H. Ballard Asst. Engineer

T/Sgt. James Paul Radio Operator

S/Sgt. William T. Atchley Jr. Asst. Radio Operator

S/Sgt. Donald H. Beebe Gunner

S/Sgt. Robert E. Merunka Gunner

William was KIA on the start of a Bombing Mission against Ponape, Island there were electrical problems with the engine, the plane never returned to base on 4 May 1944, he is honored with an Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WW II Victory Medal.

William is buried/mentioned at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu County, Hawaii U.S.A.

Courts of the missing.

He also has a Memorial Grave at Santa Fe National Cemetery, Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, USA.

Thanks to, https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-24/42-73496.html?menu=NAVIGATION

http://11thbombgroup.org/

Jean Louis Vijgen, WW2-Pacific Website.

Air Force Info, Rolland Swank.

ABMC Website, https://abmc.gov

Navy Info, http://navylog.navymemorial.org

POW Info, http://www.mansell.com Dwight Rider and Wes injerd.

Family Info, https://www.familysearch.org

Marines Info, https://missingmarines.com/ Geoffrey Roecker