John E Carpenter, A&M College of Texas class of 1940, KIA February 16, 1943, while navigating a B17.



John was a member of F Company Engineers and the ASCE as pictured in the 1940 Longhorn.



1st LT John Carpenter, 305 BG (H) was the navigator of B17 41-24611 "BOOMERANG", on February 16, 1943, the port area and U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France were designated as the primary target of this mission, consisting of 71 B-17s and 18 B-24s.

B-17s are from 91BG (18); 303BG (15); 305BG (18); and 306BG (20) of these 59 are effective on the target and 6 are lost. 91st BG reports that two of its B-17s are attacked by FW190s dropping what appear to be cluster bomb munitions just aft of the B-17s.

Mission Notes: No fighter escort on this mission for any of the elements. Luftwaffe uses time-fused fragmentation bombs dropped in clusters from FW-190 fighters.

BOOMERANG was attacked by fighters and crashed into the Etang de Gournava near Pleucadeuc, France. 11-man crew. 1KIA, 8POW, 2EVD.

LT John Carpenter is buried in the Brittany American Cemetery.

Conrad John Netting III, A&M College of Texas class of 1940, KIA June 10, 1944, in support of the Allied advance through Normandy, France.



Conrad was a member of B Battery Field Artillery and the San Antonio A&M Club as pictured in the 1937 Longhorn.



2nd Lt Conrad J. Netting III, the pilot of P-51 Mustang 42-106669 "Conjon IV", (Named for his son John Conrad VI) took off from station 356 in Debden, Essex, UK on a sweep over northern France.



While strafing a ground convoy on the Fert-Mac to St-Michel-des-Andaines road his plane was hit by small arms fire. He spiraled out of control and into the nearby woods, exploding on contact. Conrad was KIA 4 days after his 26th birthday which was June 6.

2LT Netting is buried in the Brittany American Cemetery in France, and he also has a cenotaph located in Mission Burial Park South, San Antonio.

OP - you are my 12th man.

Convalescence has given me more liberty to surf the forums and yours are very impactful!

I'd love to buy you a beer for your efforts if you ever make it to Aggieland on game day!


God bless you, sir!

Sorry if I missed it, but who does the A&M college stole? Marker? on the graves? Sorry not sure what to call it. Truly enjoy the work you've put into listing these men and ensuring their memories don't fade. In the not terribly distant future my wife and I will be traveling to Europe and will stop by and visit as many as I can.

2nd LT Harrell L Cole, A&M College of Texas class of 1944, KIA August 19, 1944, while serving with the 318th Infantry Regiment in Argentan, France.





Harrell Cole was a member of L Company Infantry as pictured in the 1944 Longhorn.



2nd LT Cole was in E Company, HQ of the 2nd BN of 318th Infantry Regiment/80th ID when they engaged with the Germans at Argentan, France on August 19. Per a report of these actions:

www.80thdivision.com/pdfs/Argentan_2_TristanRondeau.pdf

So it happens that the 2nd Battalion takes the assault all alone. It is around 1:00 a.m.: in two columns, the foot soldiers sidled in toward the stud farm of "Petit-Tellier",: and then pushed on to cross the Argentan-Trun Road. In absolute darkness and silence, and without the least resistance, the foot soldiers split up here and there along the road, a part of them (especially E Company and HQ Company, 2nd Battalion) taking position near the summit of Hill 213. Aware of the precariousness of their situation, the troops have been ordered to hide and await reinforcements.

2nd LT Harrell Cole is buried in the Brittany American Cemetery

I guess what surprises me the most, is how fast they ended up in combat. Cole was class of '44, i assume he graduated in May '44 and was already on the battle field and died in action 3 months later?

Was this normal or did he graduate early?

BQ_90 said:

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I guess what surprises me the most, is how fast they ended up in combat. Cole was class of '44, i assume he graduated in May '44 and was already on the battle field and died in action 3 months later?

Was this normal or did he graduate early?

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Per the Battalion newspaper, there was a Commencement for the class of 1944 on September 17, 1943 and January 29th, 1944

MAJOR Bailey G Carnahan, A&M College of Texas class of 1937, KIA August 20, 1944, while serving with the 314th Field Artillery in Argentan, France.



Bailey Carnahan is one of the most popular cadets that I have researched. This post will be picture-heavy because of all the activities that he was involved in.



Bailey was a member of the Regimental Staff Field Artillery (Not Pictured), Agronomy Society, Ross Volunteers, San Antonio Club, A Senior Class Officer, and the So Lo Club as pictured in the 1937 Longhorn.













MAJOR Bailey G Carnahan in HQs 314th Infantry Regiment/80th ID when they engaged with the Germans at Argentan, France on August 19 & 20th. Per a report of these actions: www.80thdivision.com/pdfs/Argentan_2_TristanRondeau.pdf

MAJOR Carnahan was KIA on August 20, 1944, at 1630 hours, per the HQ Morning Report 21 Aug. It's sad to not have more information on Bailey's service and how he led his outfit.

https://www.80thdivision.com/MorningReports/FABn/MR314FABn_Hq_AUG44.pdf

MAJOR Bailey Carnahan is buried in the Brittany American Cemetery.

Class of '44 was the only class to not wear senior boots as they graduated a year early. Wasn't that a campusology? I seem to remember at least hearing that one.

Senior boots were prohibited from being worn as directed by the Executive Committee as of September 18, 1942, and that was suspended by the School President on August 15, 1944

William C Richards, A&M College of Texas class of 1940, KIA August 30, 1944 at Brest, France.




William was 2nd in Command of L Company Infantry and was a member of the Horticulture Society as pictured in the 1940 Longhorn.





LT William C Richards was with the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On 07 June 1944 (D-Day +1) the Regiment set foot on the hostile soil of Omaha Beach, Normandy, and immediately moved forward to capture Rubercy.



The 9th Infantry moved from Normandy to the Brittany peninsula on 19 August 1944. On this peninsula, during the Battle of Brest, some of the most courageous acts of the war are recorded. The city of Brest contained a key Fort located in a comer of the Brittany peninsula that governed a large inlet. The city was to be held at all costs. Constant pressure was maintained on the defenses by the Indianhead Division and other Allied units.

On 04 September 1944, the outer defensive ring was broken, and the 9th was responsible for the capture of two of the strongholds in that defensive line.

LT William C Richards was Killed in Action during this offensive against the City of Brest and is buried in the Brittany American Cemetery

I always appreciate your information because you do your research in The Battalion.

However, I want to add to what you have said.

My father was Class of '44 and I have done some research on his service, based on what he told me and on what little I have found online and in his memorabilia.

I don't know who graduated in Sept. of 1943 in the ceremony you mention, but most members of the Class of '44 were long gone by then.

When the war began, A&M went to a year-round trimester system, and the Class of '44 left campus en masse at the end of the spring trimester in 1943. I am not sure of the exact date.

(My father had his senior boots by then and wore them in some photos I have of him visiting his parents in the summer of 1943, but he did not wear them in any outfit photos in The Aggieland.)

When the Class of 1944 was inducted at the end of spring 1943, I believe that cadets went to some sort of basic training (not sure about that) and then were assigned to OCS schools, probably based on the branch outfits they were enrolled in at A&M.

My father was in a Coast Artillery outfit at A&M and so was assigned to a 17-week Anti-Aircraft Artillery OCS that ended in November 1943.

He eventually switched to the Corps of Engineers based on his major and wound up being part of a newly-organized Engineer Combat battalion that first trained in Louisiana and then was sent to England for further bridge-building training, eventually landing in France at the end of Feb. 1945.

He served in the combat zone in Holland and Germany for two months until Germany surrendered, and then served in the Army of Occupation until Nov. 1946.

He returned to A&M by the spring of 1947 and graduated in June 1948.

I think my father's experience was pretty typical for the members of his class (and other classes that followed his) in that their service meant that they graduated after the war ended.

The Battalion January 21, 1943

Class of 1943 Commencement



The Battalion., May 20, 1943

5th graduating class since the Declaration of War

BQ did you got to all these cemeteries in one trip or have you made several trips overseas for this.

This is awesome thread and thanks for all you have done. These stories need to be knows by all Aggies. We owe all the Aggies that came before us and gave everything so much gratitude.

BQ_90 said:

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BQ did you got to all these cemeteries in one trip or have you made several trips overseas for this.

This is awesome thread and thanks for all you have done. These stories need to be knows by all Aggies. We owe all the Aggies that came before us and gave everything so much gratitude.

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I went to 5 cemeteries this summer; I spent 42 days visiting England, Normandy, the Netherlands and Bastogne.

ABATTBQ87 said:

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BQ_90 said:

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BQ did you got to all these cemeteries in one trip or have you made several trips overseas for this.

This is awesome thread and thanks for all you have done. These stories need to be knows by all Aggies. We owe all the Aggies that came before us and gave everything so much gratitude.

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I went to 5 cemeteries this summer; I spent 42 days visiting England, Normandy, the Netherlands and Bastogne.

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awesome. Do you know how many cemeteries in Europe that have Aggies buried there? I would assume we have several in Italy

BQ_90 said:

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ABATTBQ87 said:

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BQ_90 said:

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BQ did you got to all these cemeteries in one trip or have you made several trips overseas for this.

This is awesome thread and thanks for all you have done. These stories need to be knows by all Aggies. We owe all the Aggies that came before us and gave everything so much gratitude.

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I went to 5 cemeteries this summer; I spent 42 days visiting England, Normandy, the Netherlands and Bastogne.

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awesome. Do you know how many cemeteries in Europe that have Aggies buried there? I would assume we have several in Italy

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Id figure almost every cemetery in Europe has at least Aggie buried there.

https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials

Lee M. Sommers, A&M College of Texas class of 1936, KIA August 30, 1944 at Brest, France



Lee was 2nd in Command of B Battery Field Artillery and was a member of the Ross Volunteers as pictured in the 1936 Longhorn.





CAPT Lee Sommers was with the 37th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, and moved from Normandy to the Brittany peninsula on 19 August 1944. On this peninsula, during the Battle of Brest, some of the most courageous acts of the war are recorded. Brest contained a key Fort in a comer of the Brittany peninsula that governed a large inlet. The city was to be held at all costs. The Indianhead Division and other Allied units maintained constant pressure on the defenses.

On 04 September 1944, the outer defensive ring was broken, and the 9th was responsible for the capture of two of the strongholds in that defensive line.

CAPT Lee Sommers was Killed in Action on August 30, 1944, during this offensive against the City of Brest, and is buried in the Brittany American Cemetery.

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