1st Lt Jimmie Douglas Wheeler
DOB- March 16, 1945
Class: 44-D-SE
Graduation Date: April 15, 1944
Unit: 332nd Fighter Group, 99th Fighter Squadron
Service # O-828059
Jimmie was born in 1920. He was the son of James Wheeler and Sarah Mosely. He grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and it was there that he married Mary Violet Hester in 1941. Jimmie was a member of the 99th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, having completed his training at the Tuskegee Air School. He was stationed in Ramitelli, Italy, and flew the P-51 Mustang on bombing raids into Germany. On March 16, 1945, he was on an escort mission when his plane hit high tension wires and crashed into flames. His body was found 20 meters from the motor. The place of the crash is listed as the hill west of Unter Rohrbach. A group of locals buried his body in the Fridhofas, Erharting Civilian Cemetery in Germany.
In July of 1945, a graves service unit disinterred Lt. Wheeler’s remains and reburied them in a US Military Cemetery in Reutti, Germany. A year later, his remains were moved to the temporary cemetery in St. Avold, France. In September of 1949, he was buried in his final resting place of Lorraine American Cemetery.
Sources:
HonorStates.org
WikiTree.com
