First Lieutenant James A. Pelletier (O-817089) was born March 13, 1924, in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, to Alfred William and Rosalyn T. Gressman Pelletier. James had younger sister and one younger brother.

James graduated from De La Salle Collegiate High School in Detroit, Michigan. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on October 29, 1942. He was single and had the occupation of actor. He completed his training as a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter pilot, got his wings, and received his commission at Spence Field Georgia in December 1943. He was assigned to the Ninth Air Force, 405th Fighter Group, 510th Fighter Squadron. James went overseas in April 1944.

As the Allies chased the Germans inland after Normandy, the 405th Fighter Group eventually occupied the former German airfield near Saint-Dizier, France, 119 miles east of Paris. They flew bombing missions out of Saint-Dizier (A-64) from September 14, 1944, until February 8, 1945. 1 Lt. Pelletier was one of the replacement pilots who were brought into the 405th in September 1944 due to pilots being lost or returned home.

On November 18, 1944, 1 Lt. Pelletier, piloting P-47D 27 No. 42-27308 took off from Saint-Dizier with a flight of the 510th FS on a ground support mission to the east in the vicinity of Dieuze, France. The flight was circling at 4-5000’ before a bomb run when it was jumped by 40-50 enemy Me-109s. In the wild melee one of the 109s got on 1 Lt. Pelletier’s tail. 2 Lt. Chester A. Black, Jr. followed the 109 and fired a burst at him trying to get him off 1 Lt. Pelletier. After the burst, 1 Lt. Pelletier peeled up and to the left while the 109 went down and right. 2 Lt. Black saw 1 Lt. Pelletier’s parachute in the air and saw his plane hit the ground and explode. 1 Lt. Pelletier had not radioed that he had been hit nor that he was bailing out. The location where he parachuted was four miles northeast of Dieuze, France. He was 20 years old and had flown about 130 sorties. 2 Lt. Hugh R. Miller of the 510th was also lost in the same engagement.

1 Lt. Pelletier is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. He was awarded the Air Medal and eight Oak Leaf Clusters.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery.

SBTSProject/Michigan

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Sources:

1. 1940 Federal Census

2. U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946

3. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144039809/james-a-pelletier

4. https://www.ancestry.com

5. https://www.familysearch.org

6. https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?q=James+r+Pelletier

7. Armyaircorpsmuseum.org/Projects/ Missing Aircrew Reports/ MACR # 10865

8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_P-47_Thunderbolt

9. https://etd.auburn.edu/bitstream/handle/10415/3953/final%20submission1119.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=2 – “The Fighting 510th,” PhD dissertation, Adrianne Lee Hodgin Bruce, December 14, 2013, Auburn University, Auburn Alabama.

10. "Thunder Monsters Over Europe: A History of the 405th Fighter Group in World War II and The Christchurch Squadrons," Reginald G. Nolte, Sunflower University Press, Manhattan, Kansas, 1986, pages 20, 77.

11. Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.

James Pelletier (1922)