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Perrotta, Mike Anthony

    Date of birth:
    June 4th, 1921
    Date of death:
    July 30th, 1943 (Opijnen, the Netherlands)
    Buried on:
    American War Graves Protestant Churchyard Opijnen
    Nationality:
    American

    Biography

    After a bombing raid on the Messerschmitt factory in Kassel (Germany), the crew tried to get back to their base in England. But at 11:00 their B17 of the 91 Bomb Group American Air Force with the name 'Man-O-War', was shot down by German fighter planes. The plane crashed in Opijnen, eight of the ten crew members died on impact. These eight men are buried in Opijnen Protestant Churchyard. That’s remarkable because almost all other American casualties are reburied on American War Cemeteries or repatriated to the U.S.A. On special request of the people of Opijnen and the relatives of these casuals, these graves are still in Opijnen. The grave stones are different from the marble crosses used on the American War Cemeteries. They are the same as used on the great "National Cemeteries" in the U.S.A. like Arlington National Cemetery.

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