S/Sgt. Charles W. Merrill served with the 723rd Bomb Squadron, 450th Bomb Group, and was KIA 3 March 1944, as his B-24, "Maggie Zass," crashed during take off from their base at Manduria, Italy,
The pilot attempted to abort the take off half-way down the runway. Eyewitness accounts relate that observers saw the aircraft in a nose-down attitude with wheel brakes smoking.
However, the pilot was unable to stop the aircraft in time, and it ran off the runway, setting off 5000 pounds of bombs and a full load of aviation gas, killing the entire crew.
Merrill was from Alameda, CA.
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