Staff Sergeant PHILLIP JOSEPH DEFATTA

 

Staff Sergeant PHILLIP JOSEPH DEFATTA, US Army Air Forces. Brother of Corporal ANTHONY S. DEFATTA KIA. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Anthony DeFatta, he was born December 4, 1921, and attended Parkview and St. John’s High Schools. He was with North American Aviation in Dallas prior to induction September 13, 1943, in the Army Air Forces at the age of 21. He was assigned to Sheppard Field, Texas, the AAF College Training Detachment at Iowa State Teachers College, Cedar Falls, Iowa (flight training), and Yuma AAF Gunnery School, Arizona He was stationed at Tonopah AAF, Nev., for overseas training for aerial combat and Las Vegas AAF for base flight operations, as supply and weights and balances man. On December 9, 1944, he embarked for England and served as a tail gunner with the 44th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force. He fought in the Ardennes, the Rhineland, Central Europe, and Southern France. He has the American Theater Ribbon, European Theater (ETO) Ribbon with three bronze battle stars, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters. Sergeant DeFatta was discharged October 28, 1945.

 

Source:

1- THE FIGHTING MEN OF LOUISIANA – LOUISIANA HISTORICAL INSTITUTE – 1946