Ora Castrup
Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA) Shot down by flak and crashed at Schleissheim in B-17 Devil's Luck #4232030
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Pasquale R Spina
Military
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This picture was taken of Pasquale Spina, my uncle Pat, in 1942. I was born in 1947 and was not fortunate enough to know Uncle Pat but his picture was in the homes of each of his eight sisters -- we grew up seeing this picture each day. R.I.P.
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Photo of "Devil's Luck" (42-32030) exploding over Munich on July 31, 1944. All crew were killed except for one, Fred Justus, who managed to bail out and spent the rest of the war as a POW. Photo taken by Byron Cook from an adjacent B-17 in formation.
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SGT Pasquale R. Spina Tail Gunner Ora Castrup Crew 388th BG - 561st BS KIA - 31 July 1944
Killed in Action (KIA) 31 July 1944 Shot down by flak and crashed at Schleissheim in B-17 Devil's Luck #4232030
PH
Service
People
Units served with
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388th Bomb Group
Group
The 388th Bomb Group flew strategic bombing mission from Knettishall, Suffolk from June 1943 to the end of the war. During this time, though, detachments were sent to Fersfield, Norfolk to conduct Aphrodite missions. In these Aphrodite missions veteran... -
561st Bomb Squadron
Squadron
Aircraft
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42-32030 Devil's Luck
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 17/1/44; Gr Island 4/2/44; Assigned 561BS/388BG Knettishall 11/2/44; Missing in Action Munich 31/7/44 with Ora Castrup, Co-pilot: Joe DeRidder, Navigator: Harvey Dellward, Bombardier: Chester Pluta, Flight engineer/top turret gunner:...
Missions
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503
29 July 1944
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8th Air Force 507FE
31 July 1944
Associated Place
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Knettishall
Military site : airfield
Knettishall was built to Class A standard for an American Bomb Group that would be bringing up to forty heavy bombers with them in three or four Squadrons. The 388th Bomb Group, which stayed at Knettishall for their entire service in the ETO, flew B-17...
Events
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Stamford, CT, USA | 1921 |
| Lived in | Fairfield County, CT, USA | 1942 |
| Enlisted | Hartford, CT, USA | 29 October 1942 |
| Died | Schleissheim , Oberschleißheim, Germany | 31 July 1944 |
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KIA when his aircraft took a direct flak hit and exploded |
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| Buried | Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial | 1945 |
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Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial • Saint-Avold, Departement de la Moselle, Lorraine, France |
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Revisions
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 24 February 2018 04:23:51 | 466thHistorian | Changes to events, place associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56661116/pasquale-r-spina |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 09 September 2016 21:27:06 | dogofwar1 | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Exhumed from gravesite near Munich; interred as an unknown in St Avold; subsequently identified (by dental records) and re- interred as "Pasquale Spina." |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 October 2015 00:49:24 | Uncle Pat | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Pat was never a prisioner of war. He was KIA. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 October 2015 00:44:30 | Uncle Pat | Changes to nickname and biography |
| Sources | ||
Pasquale Spina was my Uncle. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:21:01 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
ABMC/MACR 7744 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 7744 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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