Scant information exists on T/Sgt Balcom and how he ended up buried in Cedar Hill. The cemetery office confirmed that he is indeed buried there, just a few years after his death though. He may well have been buried in France with the others on his plane. His remains were later brought back and he was buried in Suitland on March 24, 1949.
T/Sgt AAF WW II and listed as KIA at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
A nephew of the navigator, 1st Lt. William Haban sent in this from his research:
Here is what I was able to find out about T/Sgt. Balcom and the men he flew with. They were members of an elite group of airmen known as the First Pathfinders. Their aircraft was equipped with a new radar which enabled them to find targets in inclement weather and other conditions which obstructed line of sight. They would be the first in and took most of the enemy flack, they would drop their bombs on strategic locations thus lighting up the targets for the bombers that followed.
The pilot 1st Lt. John H. Dilg and the Navigator 1st Lt. William Haban, (my Uncle) were initially laid to rest in Solers-Melun, France. They were brought home after the war and they are now at rest a few graves apart in the Long Island National Cemetery at Pinelawn.
On the morning of November 26, 1944, they were en route from their base near Paris to the base of the 409th Army Air Corps. in Bretigny France. They were scheduled to lead a bombing mission the next day to Berlin. It was a dark and cloudy morning with limited visibility. The pilot, John H. Dilg, had limited nighttime flying experience. He undershot the runway hitting a high tension wire carrying 15,000 volts. The aircraft skidded across the ground catching fire. It came to a stop and the two 1,000 lb. bombs they were carrying exploded. Before the explosion Engineer/Gunner Leonard D. Metzger and Tail Gunner Harold E. Horney escaped through a rear exit and survived. The five other men on board were killed. A copy of the "Restricted" accident report through the Freedom of Information Act gave the details of the incident.
T/Sgt AAF WW II and listed as KIA at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
A nephew of the navigator, 1st Lt. William Haban sent in this from his research:
Here is what I was able to find out about T/Sgt. Balcom and the men he flew with. They were members of an elite group of airmen known as the First Pathfinders. Their aircraft was equipped with a new radar which enabled them to find targets in inclement weather and other conditions which obstructed line of sight. They would be the first in and took most of the enemy flack, they would drop their bombs on strategic locations thus lighting up the targets for the bombers that followed.
The pilot 1st Lt. John H. Dilg and the Navigator 1st Lt. William Haban, (my Uncle) were initially laid to rest in Solers-Melun, France. They were brought home after the war and they are now at rest a few graves apart in the Long Island National Cemetery at Pinelawn.
On the morning of November 26, 1944, they were en route from their base near Paris to the base of the 409th Army Air Corps. in Bretigny France. They were scheduled to lead a bombing mission the next day to Berlin. It was a dark and cloudy morning with limited visibility. The pilot, John H. Dilg, had limited nighttime flying experience. He undershot the runway hitting a high tension wire carrying 15,000 volts. The aircraft skidded across the ground catching fire. It came to a stop and the two 1,000 lb. bombs they were carrying exploded. Before the explosion Engineer/Gunner Leonard D. Metzger and Tail Gunner Harold E. Horney escaped through a rear exit and survived. The five other men on board were killed. A copy of the "Restricted" accident report through the Freedom of Information Act gave the details of the incident.
Scant information exists on T/Sgt Balcom and how he ended up buried in Cedar Hill. The cemetery office confirmed that he is indeed buried there, just a few years after his death though. He may well have been buried in France with the others on his plane. His remains were later brought back and he was buried in Suitland on March 24, 1949.
T/Sgt AAF WW II and listed as KIA at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
A nephew of the navigator, 1st Lt. William Haban sent in this from his research:
Here is what I was able to find out about T/Sgt. Balcom and the men he flew with. They were members of an elite group of airmen known as the First Pathfinders. Their aircraft was equipped with a new radar which enabled them to find targets in inclement weather and other conditions which obstructed line of sight. They would be the first in and took most of the enemy flack, they would drop their bombs on strategic locations thus lighting up the targets for the bombers that followed.
The pilot 1st Lt. John H. Dilg and the Navigator 1st Lt. William Haban, (my Uncle) were initially laid to rest in Solers-Melun, France. They were brought home after the war and they are now at rest a few graves apart in the Long Island National Cemetery at Pinelawn.
On the morning of November 26, 1944, they were en route from their base near Paris to the base of the 409th Army Air Corps. in Bretigny France. They were scheduled to lead a bombing mission the next day to Berlin. It was a dark and cloudy morning with limited visibility. The pilot, John H. Dilg, had limited nighttime flying experience. He undershot the runway hitting a high tension wire carrying 15,000 volts. The aircraft skidded across the ground catching fire. It came to a stop and the two 1,000 lb. bombs they were carrying exploded. Before the explosion Engineer/Gunner Leonard D. Metzger and Tail Gunner Harold E. Horney escaped through a rear exit and survived. The five other men on board were killed. A copy of the "Restricted" accident report through the Freedom of Information Act gave the details of the incident.
T/Sgt AAF WW II and listed as KIA at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
A nephew of the navigator, 1st Lt. William Haban sent in this from his research:
Here is what I was able to find out about T/Sgt. Balcom and the men he flew with. They were members of an elite group of airmen known as the First Pathfinders. Their aircraft was equipped with a new radar which enabled them to find targets in inclement weather and other conditions which obstructed line of sight. They would be the first in and took most of the enemy flack, they would drop their bombs on strategic locations thus lighting up the targets for the bombers that followed.
The pilot 1st Lt. John H. Dilg and the Navigator 1st Lt. William Haban, (my Uncle) were initially laid to rest in Solers-Melun, France. They were brought home after the war and they are now at rest a few graves apart in the Long Island National Cemetery at Pinelawn.
On the morning of November 26, 1944, they were en route from their base near Paris to the base of the 409th Army Air Corps. in Bretigny France. They were scheduled to lead a bombing mission the next day to Berlin. It was a dark and cloudy morning with limited visibility. The pilot, John H. Dilg, had limited nighttime flying experience. He undershot the runway hitting a high tension wire carrying 15,000 volts. The aircraft skidded across the ground catching fire. It came to a stop and the two 1,000 lb. bombs they were carrying exploded. Before the explosion Engineer/Gunner Leonard D. Metzger and Tail Gunner Harold E. Horney escaped through a rear exit and survived. The five other men on board were killed. A copy of the "Restricted" accident report through the Freedom of Information Act gave the details of the incident.
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