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T/Sgt. Joseph James Freeborn
US Army Air Corps 422nd Bomb Squadron 305th Bomb Group
from:Elmont, New York
On Mission No. 61. Target, Saint-Nazaire Submarine Pen, Aircraft B-17F-55-BO 42-29531 was flown by T/O Chelveston and was shot down by German fighters. The right engine caught fire and the crew bailed out. The aircraft broke in half and crashed at St. Bihy, 12 miles South West of St. Brieuc in France. One of the crew was killed, 6 were taken POW and 3 evaded capture.
T/Sgt. Joseph J. Freeborn was the radio operator and the flight engineer was Sgt. Milasius. These two men had parachuted out of the plane over France and after getting rid of his parachute and equipment, Sgt Milasius ran out of the village and found Sgt. Freeborn laying in a field. The radio operator landed so hard that he broke his leg along with sustaining multiple injuries including broken ribs and severe lacerations to the face. A French policeman arrested Sgt. Freeborn as he was being carried to the hospital by civilians. Sgt. Freeborn's next two years would be spent at the infamous Stalag VII B Braunau Gneikendorf, Germany, near Krems, Austria.
Sgt. Freeborn would eventually be liberated and repatriated back to the United States. He was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries he received in combat.
