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LIEUTENANT TRANSPORT PILOT DIED IN AIR OVER FRANCE.
Rex was the son of Alex Royal and Alice Bomon Pond. He was born in Lewiston, Utah. He enlisted on Jan 9, 1942, sadly he was killed in action while serving with the Army Air Corps. The date is May 23, 1945, just 15 days after Germany surrenders in World War II. An Army Air Corps C-46 "Commando" aircraft with a crew of four and carrying 40 wounded American soldiers and repatriated prisoners of war to hospitals in the Paris area -- and, then, finally home -- plunges from the skies just outside the village of Taillefontaine, near Paris, with one of its two engines on fire. All on board are killed, including the wounded on their way to recovery and home.
Crew who perished on C-46D #44-77507:
Pond, Rex L ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, Utah
Weid, Claude H ~ 1st Lt, Co-Pilot, Illinois
Hill, Herbert H ~ Tech/3, Medical Team, Iowa
Vermillion, Edward V, Jr ~ Sgt, Medical Team, Virginia
41 Passengers who perished on C-46D #44-77507:
Barton, Graham J ~ Maj, Mississippi
Bordelon, Eugene A ~ Pvt, Louisiana
Brancati, Vincent J ~ Pvt, New York
Branstetter, George O ~ Pfc, Oklahoma
Callihan, Richard ~ Tec/5, Kentucky
Carpenter, Carl L ~ Tec/5, Georgia
Carter, Leonard S ~ Pfc, South Carolina
Cote, Wilfred S ~ T/Sgt, New Hampshire
D'Amico, Floyd ~ Pfc, New York
Davis, Homer P ~ Tec/4, Missouri
Doyon, Joseph O ~ Pfc, Maine
Eagan, Leonidas E ~ Pfc, Colorado
Erlich, Maurie ~ Pfc, Missouri
Farris, William C ~ Pfc, Oklahoma
Garrity, Jack M ~ Tec/5, California
Gorrell, Denver, Jr ~ Pvt, Ohio
Gronkowski, Edward M ~ Pvt, Illinois
Hutchings, Walter S ~ 1st Lt, Illinois
Icenhour, Eugene J ~ T/5, Pennsylvania
Jankowski, Henry E ~ Pfc, New York
Kittrell, Floyd A ~ Tec/4, Florida
Maron, Joseph P ~ Tec/5, Ohio
Martel, Arthur R ~ Corp, Maine
Martin, James A ~ Pfc, Florida
McDonald, George S ~ S/Sgt, Kentucky
McGill, James P ~ Pvt, North Carolina
McNeal, Robert ~ Pfc, Georgia
Owens, Woodrow W ~ Pfc, Tennessee
Perkins, Richard W ~ Corp, New Jersey
Plante, Amos A ~ Capt, New Jersey
Quillin, William H ~ 1st Lt
Ronn, Eric L ~ Pfc
Runolfson, Loren A ~ Pfc, Washington
Sanderfur, James M ~ Tec/5, Indiana
Schary, Jerome ~ Pvt, New York
Shaw, Charles H ~ Pvt, California
Sheppard, Marion W ~ Pfc, Virginia
Smith, Wilson F ~ Corp, California
Sysock, Peter ~ Pfc, New York
Thibeault, Emmett A ~ Pfc, Michigan
Zell, Wayne L ~ Tec/4, Indiana