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SSGT Robert A Garrett

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SSGT Robert A Garrett

Birth
Death
24 Jan 1943 (aged 23)
Alamogordo, Otero County, New Mexico, USA
Burial
Riverside, Riverside County, California, USA Add to Map
Plot
P2, Lot 45, Spc1
Memorial ID
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Historical note: January 24, 1943 was the deadliest day in U.S. Army aviation history,
when 12 separate fatal airplane crashes in the United States killed 51 personnel

Staff Sergeant Garrett was a radio operator aboard U.S. Army Air Forces B-24D Liberator #41-24037. He was one of eleven airmen who were killed in a crash in the White Sands National Monument, approximately ten miles west of the airbase at Alamogordo, New Mexico, on a training flight during World War II.
There was only one witness to the accident. The aircraft was observed to come out of cloud cover about 5,000 feet above terrain, in a slight downward path. It then levelled out, then banked to the right and went into a flat spin. Investigators could not determine an exact cause, but the bomber was in a near recovery when it impacted terrain. Encountering turbulence may have induced an engine stall.

The crew members killed aboard were:

2nd Lt. William A Ebert, Pilot
2nd Lt. Arthur M Thomas, Co-pilot
2nd Lt. Stanley G Netz, Bombardier
2nd Lt. Paul Vistuba, Navigator
Sgt. Billie D Francis, Gunner
S/Sgt. Robert A Garrett, Radio Operator
Sgt. Howard G Lilley, Gunner
S/Sgt. Glenn M McKnight, Flight Engineer
Sgt. John J Mikolich, Gunner
Sgt. Joseph P Rafac, Radio Operator
Sgt. Willard S Schrader, Passenger

ASN 39234404.
Historical note: January 24, 1943 was the deadliest day in U.S. Army aviation history,
when 12 separate fatal airplane crashes in the United States killed 51 personnel

Staff Sergeant Garrett was a radio operator aboard U.S. Army Air Forces B-24D Liberator #41-24037. He was one of eleven airmen who were killed in a crash in the White Sands National Monument, approximately ten miles west of the airbase at Alamogordo, New Mexico, on a training flight during World War II.
There was only one witness to the accident. The aircraft was observed to come out of cloud cover about 5,000 feet above terrain, in a slight downward path. It then levelled out, then banked to the right and went into a flat spin. Investigators could not determine an exact cause, but the bomber was in a near recovery when it impacted terrain. Encountering turbulence may have induced an engine stall.

The crew members killed aboard were:

2nd Lt. William A Ebert, Pilot
2nd Lt. Arthur M Thomas, Co-pilot
2nd Lt. Stanley G Netz, Bombardier
2nd Lt. Paul Vistuba, Navigator
Sgt. Billie D Francis, Gunner
S/Sgt. Robert A Garrett, Radio Operator
Sgt. Howard G Lilley, Gunner
S/Sgt. Glenn M McKnight, Flight Engineer
Sgt. John J Mikolich, Gunner
Sgt. Joseph P Rafac, Radio Operator
Sgt. Willard S Schrader, Passenger

ASN 39234404.

Inscription

SSGT, 459 BOMB SQ, 330 BOMB GP WORLD WAR II

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  • Created by: Tim Cook
  • Added: Jan 10, 2013
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/103361698/robert_a-garrett: accessed ), memorial page for SSGT Robert A Garrett (10 Jul 1919–24 Jan 1943), Find a Grave Memorial ID 103361698, citing Olivewood Cemetery, Riverside, Riverside County, California, USA; Maintained by Tim Cook (contributor 46481904).