John Francis Stout
Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Forces

In March 1944, Staff Sergeant John Francis Stout was serving as a engineer/gunner with the 759th Bomb Squadron, 459th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 304th Bombardment Wing, 15th Air Force, based at Giulia Airfield, Italy. The 459th Bombardment Group flew B-24 Liberator bombers on missions in Italy, France, the Balkans, Austria and Germany.

On 3 March 1944, SSGT Stout was the engineer/gunner on the B-24H Liberator bomber Serial Number 41-28677 named ’Ten Hits and a Miss' on a bombing mission over Viterbo, Italy. The aircraft had a crew of 10. The aircraft was last sighted at 1040 hours after being hit by flak over the target which knocked it out of formation and it was then shot down by German FW-190 fighters a few minutes later. Both inboard engines were on fire and it lost altitude rapidly as it headed toward the Tyrrhenian Sea coastline in a relatively well-controlled descent. Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) 3369 noted that witnesses on other aircraft saw the ’Ten Hits and a Miss' crew members bail out and the burning aircraft crash into the water and ultimately sink close to shore. Parachutes came down on land and water and survival chances for the members of the crew seemed pretty good at that time.

Whatever happened next is not revealed in the USAAF records; MACR 3369 provides no information on the fate of 2LT Rutters and his crew. Much later it was learned that 9 of the 10 crew members were listed as Missing in Action on MACR 3369 (status was later changed to KIA). The only survivor, Tail Turret Gunner SSGT John H. Harrigan, was injured, taken prisoner and later listed as Returned to Duty. Harrigan was given no details about the rest of his crew members; he was told only that they died at the time of the crash.

Medals, Awards and Badges

Purple Heart
Air Medal
Good Conduct Medal
American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
Army Air Forces Aircrew Badge

B-24H Liberator Bomber Serial Number 41-28677 ’Ten Hits and a Miss' had the following crew on 3 March 1944.

● Pilot: 2LT Henry D. Rutters [Honoree Record ID 77496]
● Co-Pilot: 2LT Halbert P. Brown, Jr. [Honoree Record ID 73628]
● Navigator: 2LT Aldo Misik [Honoree Record ID 76581]
● Bombardier: FO Philip B. Klein [Honoree Record ID 75776]
● Engineer/Gunner: SSGT John F. Stout [Honoree Record ID 77985
● Radio Operator: SGT Eugene H. Warren [Honoree Record ID 78376]
● Waist Gunner: SSGT Frederick W. Siegrist [Honoree Record ID 77715]
● Waist Gunner: SSGT William L. Springett [Honoree Record ID 77891]
● Ball Turret Gunner: SSGT Howard R. Moore [Honoree Record ID 76629]
● Tail Turret Gunner: SSGT John H. Harrigan [Prisoner of War later Returned to Duty]

Memorialization

Staff Sergeant John Francis Stout is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial in Florence, Provincia di Firenze, Toscana, Italy.

He is also memorialized with a cenotaph at Lutherania Cemetery in Richmond, IN.

[The information in this biography, and the photos, were derived primarily from various sections of the 459th Bombardment Group website at http://www.459bg.org/ and permission was granted for their use.]