Clay Byers was born at Shulls Mills, North Carolina, the son of Theodore Roosevelt Byers and Dulcie Leone Fox.
He enlisted 14 Mar 1942 at Richmond, VA. Killed in Action over Horsham St Faith
Buried Cambridge Permanent Cemetery, Cambridge, England
Plot B 7 45
1st Lt., 784th Bomber Squadron, 466th Bomber Group, Heavy
H2X Radar Navigator on a B-24PFF aircraft, with serial number 42-51134, nickname Liberty Belle
Crew members
Captain Leland G. Griffith
1st Lt Homer Y. Harris
1st Lt Lawrence J. Langer
1st Lt Burton J. Smith
1st Lt John J. French
1st Lt Clay Byers
T/Sgt Willis S. Benagh
T/Sgt Donald Call
S/Sgt Thomas F. Hughes Jr.
S/Sgt Anthony V. Mulone
S/Sgt Burl Eugene Whited
Submitted by Bob Byers:
“Clay Byers was my uncle who died 10 years before I was born. His plane crashed after takeoff during formation. He was a radar navigator who flew in the lead plane to direct the bombing run to the target since everything was always covered over and their targets couldn’t be seen by a normal bomb site. He died the day after my father enlisted. My father was seriously wounded by a German 88mm in France in February 1945.
The picture of Clay is one of him standing by a trainer and not a B-24. The other picture of him in his bomber jacket really is much better. It hung in my parent’s home as long as I can remember. Since my father was a 100% disabled vet, I grew up knowing in a very personal way what was meant by, ‘All gave some. Some gave all.’ ”
- Rank: First Lieutenant
- Date of birth: 4 October 1921
- Date of death: 1 September 1944
- County: Carter
- Hometown: Elizabethton
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: 84th Bomber Squadron, 466th Bomber Group, Heavy
- Theater: Europe
- Conflict: World War II
- Awards: Purple Heart
- Burial/Memorial Location: Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England
- Location In Memorial: Pillar VIII, Top Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Clay Byers
Image Gallery
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