Veterans' Memorial Project
Joe Bertis Bonner
Fairfield, IL
World War II
Sgt. Bonner served with the 8th Air Force, 453rd Bomb Group, 732nd Squadron. He was an engineer on a heavy bomber, a Consolidated B-24H Liberator. It was shot down on a mission over Germany; 2 members of the 10-man crew survived and were taken Prisoner of War; the rest died in the plane crash. Bonner’s plane was nicknamed “Dumbo, the Pistol Packin’ Pachyderm.”
– information taken from and University records
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