PERRA Walter F - 77 FS 20 FG

Walter Francis PERRA

NUMBER OF SERVICE

O-758222 (19101209)

AGE

23 yo

DATE OF BIRTH

24 June 1919 MINNESOTA

ETAT

Stanislaus County CALIFORNIA

FAMILY

Single

RANK

2^nd Lieutenant

FONCTION

Pilote de P-38 Lighting

JOB BEFORE ENLISTEMENT

Designer

DATE of ENLISTEMENT

15 February 1943 to Santa Ana AAB CALIFORNIA

SQUADRON

77^th Fighter Squadron

GROUP

20^th Fighter Group

Citation Présidentiel

ARMY

8^th US Air Force

DATE OF DEATH

15 June 1944

STATUS

KIA

PLACE OF DEATH

Les Corves - Vernouillet (28)

DATA PLAN

P-38 Lightning 42-104067

"Little Chum"

Mission : Escort and Strafing in the Angers area

p38

Macr 5734

Takeoff 367 Kings Cliffe Station, Northamptonshire UK - Lt Irwin W. FERNANDEZ

Crash observed by 1Lt John E. KLING

Shots by flak à 08h55

a motor on fire, the pilot takes altitude to evacuate, but the plane explodes in flight

CEMETERY TEMPORARY

CEMTERY TEMPORARY of St andré de l'Eure N°3572

st andre cemetery 1

Story of Cemetery Temporary

Plot	Row	Grave
F	3	43 - 1546

CEMETERY

NORMANDY AMERICAN CEMETERY of Colleville

Map of Normandy American Cemetery

GRAVE

Plot	Row	Grave
B	17	24

DECORATION

Air Medal + OLC

Purple Heart

World War II Victory Medal

Photo FDLM

STORY

Added by: Andy

Added by Michel Beckers

PERRA Walter F headstone inscription

Added by: usafdo

USABMC
Soldiers of Normandy: 2^nd Lt. Walter F. PERRA⠀
⠀
Walter F. PERRA and his four brothers and sister grew up in Ceres, California. Medrick, Walter's brother, was a talented tool and die maker who worked for Douglas Aircraft, making aircraft for the war effort in World War II. His brother, Joe, also served in the war as a navigator and bomber who flew from North Africa and Italy to Germany and Austria. Walter was a P-38 pilot assigned to the 77th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group. He was training at the Santa Ana Army Air Base by February 22, 1943, and wrote many letters home: "I still hope I'll be classified for pilot training." ⠀
By April 8, 1944, Perra was stationed in Kings Cliffe, England, and wrote many letters to his family about the kindness of the English people. From April 1944, through early June of that same year, Perra flew 14 missions.⠀
⠀
When D-Day arrived, Walter was assigned to support the fleet for what he referred to as "the Big Show." He flew five more sorties during the invasion, attacking German trains bringing supplies to the front lines. He became Missing in Action on June 15, 1944, while flying over Dreux. Hit by enemy fire, according to French eyewitnesses, he could have bailed out and saved himself, but chose to steer the aircraft away from the town of Les Corvées below him before trying to bail out at only 100 ft. above the ground. He was killed instantly.⠀
⠀
The civilians of Les Corvées and Dreux held a ceremony in 1944 to honor Walter, and buried him in secret, defying the Germans. He lay buried and listed as missing in action until a few months after the war ended and an American Graves Registration unit was able to discover his identity. A small monument to Perra, erected by the villagers of Les Corvées, is located near the original crash site.⠀
⠀
2nd Lt. Walter F. Perra is buried in Normandy American Cemetery, plot B, row 17, grave 24. He was awarded the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart.⠀

Brother's Walter	Joseph D. PERRA
ARMY SERIAL NUMBER	39111049
DATE OF BIRTH	1921 MINNESOTA
STATE	CALIFORNIA
FAMILY	Single
FONCTION	Navigator
UNIT	US Air Force
DATE of ENLISTEMENT	24 October 1942 San Francisco CALIFORNIA