WWII Airman Killed In Action Over Germany 1944 Gets Clean Veteran Headstone by Memorial Day 2021

Watch and learn as Trae Zipperer cleans the veteran headstone of Staff Sergeant Robert A. Andrews who was Killed In Action over Europe during World War II while manning his gun during a bombing mission on 23 Mar 1944. In this video, Trae explains the neglected condition of veteran headstones marking the graves of hometown heroes who were buried in their local cemeteries only to be forgotten as memories of their ultimate sacrifices disappeared. Filmed on location at New Hope Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery in La Crosse, FL just north of Gainesville, FL.

Ssgt Robert A. Andrews went Missing In Action and was later confirmed as having been Killed In Action. Watch the movie Memphis Belle. Source: The American Air Museum in Britain website. Assigned to the 728th Bombardment Squadron, SSgt Robert A. “Bob” Andrews was a Waist Gunner aboard B-17 Flying Fortress #42-39933. On 23 Mar 1944 while on a bombing mission from their base in England to bomb targets in Brunswick, Germany, his airplane was attacked by German fighter planes, exploded in mid-air, and crashed NE of Diepholz, Germany. Eight crew members were Killed In Action. Two crew members survived, were captured, and became Prisoners of War (POW).

His body was exhumed five years later in 1949, transported across the Atlantic Ocean aboard the USS Haiti Victory along with the bodies of 5,328 American service members, and reinterred in his family’s burial grounds. The final resting place for World War II American hero SSgt Robert A. Andrews is located in the New Hope Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery among members of his mother’s side with the surname Clemons.

Covered in decades of biological growth buildup, in this video Trae uses D/2 Biological Solution, water, a soft nylon bristles horse brush, and a tooth brush to honor this American hero with a clean veteran headstone by Memorial Day.

VeteranGraves.com is introduced as the place to Register in order to add Cemeteries and Graves to document all veteran graves before and after cleaning.