Fairhope, Alabama. (fairhopetimes@att.net)
LT. 'BARNEY' GASTON
During one of his cemetery walk n' talks recently, local historian Donnie Barrett told visitors about 2nd Lt. Ernest Gaston ll and how the 20-year-old pilot died fighting the Nazis during WW ll.
Gaston was the son of the Single Tax Colony's founder, E. B. Gaston.
(video below)
Gaston ll, a P - 47 Thunderbolt pilot in the 53rd fighter squadron, 38th fighter group of the 9th Army-Air Force, was shot down over Sivry-courtry France on August 26th, 1944 -- about 3 months after the D-Day invasion in early June.
P 47 pilots of the 53rd squadron were also known as the Fighter Bomber Boys.
He had enlisted after graduating from the Marietta Johnson Organic School in 1939.
Gaston is still re known by citizens of Sivry for liberating their town -- and has his own monument nearby.
Town citizens helped return his remains to Fairhope's Colony Cemetery on Oak St.
He was also remembered by many as the "prince royale" of Fairhope for being especially "handsome."
LT. 'BARNEY' GASTON
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| E.B. Gaston ll |
During one of his cemetery walk n' talks recently, local historian Donnie Barrett told visitors about 2nd Lt. Ernest Gaston ll and how the 20-year-old pilot died fighting the Nazis during WW ll.
Gaston was the son of the Single Tax Colony's founder, E. B. Gaston.
(video below)
Gaston ll, a P - 47 Thunderbolt pilot in the 53rd fighter squadron, 38th fighter group of the 9th Army-Air Force, was shot down over Sivry-courtry France on August 26th, 1944 -- about 3 months after the D-Day invasion in early June.
P 47 pilots of the 53rd squadron were also known as the Fighter Bomber Boys.
He had enlisted after graduating from the Marietta Johnson Organic School in 1939.
Gaston is still re known by citizens of Sivry for liberating their town -- and has his own monument nearby.
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| Colony cemetery gravesite |
He was also remembered by many as the "prince royale" of Fairhope for being especially "handsome."
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| Sivry, France. Gaston's monument at right. |
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| P 47 Thunderbolt |
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