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SSG Justin Davis
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Close, Buster, Sgt.
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Contact Info
Home Town St. George
Date of Passing Jul 20, 1970
Official Badges
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Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
SGT BUSTER CLOSE WAS TRUCK DRIVER LIVING IN ST. GEORGE, WEST VIRGINIA PRIOR TO ENTERING THE USAAF ON 12 FEBRUARY 1942. SGT CLOSE SERVED IN EUROPE WITH THE 506TH BOMB SQUADRON, 44TH BOMB GROUP(HEAVY), 8TH USAAF FROM 12 SEPTEMBER 1942 TO 15 JUNE 1945. BUSTER CLOSE PASSED AWAY ON 20 JULY 1970 AND WAS LAID TO REST AT THE ST. GEORGE CEMETERY.
WWII - European Theater of Operations/Sicily Campaign (1943)
From Month/Year
July / 1943
To Month/Year
August / 1943
Description (Sicily Campaign 9 July to 17 August 1943) In preparation for the invasion of Sicily the Allies captured the islands in the Sicilian strait, with aerial bombardment forcing the capitulation of Pantelleria on 11 June 1943. By that time Allied air power had begun the attack on Sicily by bombing defenses and airfields. The invasion itself got under way on the night of 9/10 July with airborne landings that were followed the next day by an amphibious assault. The enemy offered strong resistance, but the Allies had superiority in the air and soon had planes operating from Sicilian bases to support Montgomery’s Eighth Army and Patton’s Seventh.
Interdictory operations against communications in Italy and between Italy and Sicily convinced the enemy that it would be impossible to move strong reinforcements. By 17 August 1943 the Allies were in possession of the island, but they had not been able to prevent a German evacuation across the Strait of Messina.