Individual Casualty Questionnaire

Halligan.jpg

Dublin Core

Title

Individual Casualty Questionnaire

Alternative Title

Unites States Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report

Subject

World War, 1939-1945
Veterans--Florida

Description

The individual casualty questionnaire for the Unites States Army Air Forces on March 16, 1944. The Missing Air Crew Report was organized in response to the status of the 12th Air Force, 320th Bombardment Group, 441th Bomb Squadron, which left from Decimomannu Air Force Base in Sardinia for their target in Aquina, Italy. Eight passengers were on board and seven parachutes were reported to have been opened. Some were captured by the Germans and others were unaccounted for.

A notable solider from the squadron was Terance Halligan (1922-1944). Born on April 3, 1922, in Northern Ireland, Halligan and his parents immigrated to the United States in the 1920s, settling in New Jersey and New York. After high school, Halligan worked as a longshoreman, loading and unloading cargo onto ships. On March 20, 1942, Halligan enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, where he served as a navigator with the 320th Bombardment Group in the 441st Bomb Squadron. He served in the North African and Mediterranean Theaters of the war as a Lieutenant. After a mission off the coast of Italy on March 16, 1944, the right engine of the aircraft that Halligan served on caught fire and those on board parachuted off. While witnesses saw Halligan land safely on shore, the group was captured by Germans and his status thereafter is unknown. On August 18, 1945, the Army officially declared him missing in action. For his actions and sacrifice, Halligan earned an Air Medal with Three Oak Leaf Clusters and a Purple Heart. The Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida placed a memorial headstone in his memory. Halligan is also memorialized on the Tablets for the Missing at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial in Nettuno, Italy.

In 2017, the University of Central Florida was one of three universities selected to launch the National Cemetery Administration’s Veterans Legacy Program Project. The program engaged a team of scholars to make the life stories of veterans buried in the Florida National Cemetery available to the public. The project engages UCF students in research and writing and fosters collaboration between students, faculty and local Central Florida schools to produce interactive curriculum for k-12 students. The corresponding website exhibit uses RICHES Mosaic Interface to create a digital archive of related data. The public can use the project-developed augmented-reality app at more than 100 gravesites at the Florida National Cemetery, where they can access the UCF student-authored biographies of veterans.

Creator

United States Army Air Forces

Source

Digital reproduction of original casualty questionnaire.

Publisher

United States Army Air Forces

Date Created

1944-03-16

Format

image/jpg

Extent

1.01 MB

Medium

1 casualty questionnaire

Language

eng

Type

Text

Coverage

Sardinia, Italy

Accrual Method

Donation

Mediator

History Teacher

Provenance

Originally created and published by the United States Army Air Forces.

Rights Holder

This resource is not subject to copyright in the United States and there are no copyright restrictions on reproduction, derivative works, distribution, performance, or display of the work. Anyone may, without restriction under U.S. copyright laws:

• reproduce the work in print or digital form
• create derivative works
• perform the work publicly
• display the work
• distribute copies or digitally transfer the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending.

This resource is provided here by RICHES for educational purposes only. For more information on copyright, please refer to Section 5 of Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code.

Curator

Connolly, Lehman
Cravero, Geoffrey

External Reference

Abney, Barb. "VA Selects UCF Historians to Archive Stories of Deceased Veterans Veterans." UCF Today, March 13, 2017. Accessed August 9, 2017. https://today.ucf.edu/va-selects-ucf-historians-archive-stories-deceased-veterans/.
Black, Jeremy. World War Two: A Military History. London [u.a]: Routledge, 2003.

Citation

United States Army Air Forces, “Individual Casualty Questionnaire,” RICHES, accessed December 3, 2024, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/10259.

Locations

Categories