Samuel Jefferson (1920 - 1944)

Born 19 Aug 1920 in Galveston Island, Galveston, Texas, United States

Died 22 Jun 1944 at age 23 in Corsica, France

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Biography

Lt. Samuel Jefferson was Missing in Action during World War II.

Samuel Jefferson is a Military Veteran.
Served in the United States Army Air Force 100th Fighter Squadron 1943-1944
Tuskegee Airman flying Ace

Samuel Jefferson was awarded the Purple Heart.

Samuel Jefferson is Notable.

Samuel was born in 1920. He was the son of Samuel Jefferson and Helen Taylor. ^[1] , born in Galveston, Texas. His father was a dock worker who died when Samuel was three, from pneumonia. His mother then remarried to John Barnfield, and he and his siblings were living with them in 1930. ^[2]. It's difficult to know whether there might have been some family estrangement, because in 1940, none of his siblings who were Samuel Sr's children were living with their mother. Samuel, Jr, was living with Florence Gordon ^[3] who claims him as a Foster son, but surely he was old enough to have been out on his own. When Sam filled out his draft registration card, though, he listed his mother, Helen Barfield, as his next of kin.

Samuel had been working at the Todd dry docks when he decided to enter the Tuskegee Flight school in Alabama. By July of 1943, he had completed his basic flight training and had been assigned to advanced flight class. ^[4]. He traveled with a group of airman to Italy in late December, having been assigned to the 100th Fighter Squadron with the 322nd Fighter Group at Ramitelli airbase in Italy.

On June 24, 1944, he was on a combat mission under the leadership of Capt. Robert B. Tresville, assigned to strafe an enemy supply line west of Airasca, Italy. The group was flying low to escape radar. One of his fellow pilots experienced plane trouble and crashed into the water, followed by a second. Samuel made a tight turn, got caught in a downward slip stream which threw his plane into a spin, resulting in Jefferson's P-45 crashing and exploding upon impact. A missing air craft report regarding the crash states that Jefferson might have been abe to get out of the plane. .^[5] However, his body has never been recovered. His name is inscribed upon the Tablets of the Missing in Sicily-Rome American Cemetery.^[6]. The date listed is his FOD (finding of death), a year and a day after his actual missing status.

Sources

1. ↑ "Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-1935," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X2Y3-8V1 : 4 April 2020), Samuel Jefferson, 19 Aug 1920; citing Galveston, Galveston, Texas, United States, certificate 42171, Texas Department of Health, Austin; FHL microfilm 4,516,139.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HG8W-7PZ : accessed 29 June 2020), Samuel Jefferson in household of John N Barfield, Palestine, Anderson, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 7, sheet 14B, line 79, family 356, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2287; FHL microfilm 2,342,021.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KWVV-8SG : 29 July 2019), Samuel Jefferson in household of Florence Gordon, Ward 8, Galveston, Justice Precinct 1, Galveston, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 84-43, sheet 1A, line 20, family 7, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 4038.
4. ↑ The Galveston Daily News, 11 Jul 1943, pg. 18.
5. ↑ MACR 6078; A/C 42-26812, pg 2,3.
6. ↑ https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/jefferson%3Dsamuel