1st Lt Cornelius George Rogers
February 27, 1921- June 12, 1944
Class: 43-G-SE
Graduation Date: July 28, 1943
Unit: 332nd Fighter Group, 301st Fighter Squadron
Service # O-809252
Cornelius was born in 1921 to Louis Rogers and Bianca Geddes in Chicago. Both of his parents had been born in Louisiana and had moved there. His father worked as a janitor for a bank. When Cornelius registered for the draft, he was employed by Edward J. Hines hospital in Hines, Ill.
He attended flight training at Tuskegee Army Air Base in Alabama, and by August of 1943, he had earned his wings and received his commission. His mother had died just a month earlier.
He was stationed at Ramitteli Air Force base in Italy and flew a P-39 Airacobra on his missions. He was married before he shipped to Italy as his next of kin listed in the local paper was named Marian Rogers.
On the 9th of June, 1944, Cornelius was in a formation of aircraft accompanying a group of bombers to Northern Italy. Enemy aircraft was encountered over the Alps, the formation started back to base. When they arrived over Pola, Italy, Cornelius called that he was having engine trouble approximately 10 miles southwest of Pole. He told a fellow crew member that he thought he could make it to home base. In July, he was listed as missing in action, and in November, the Chicago paper reported that he was being held in a German POW Camp.
Cornelius George Rogers is buried or memorialized at American Cemetery, Sicily-Rome, Italy, Plot C Row 7 Grave 34.
Sources:
HonorStates.org
WikiTree.com
