Gene Lefler
| Date and Place of Birth: | August 26, 1920 Norfolk, NE |
| Date and Place of Death: | November 7, 1942 Walterboro, SC |
| Baseball Experience: | Amateur |
| Position: | Unknown |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Military Unit: | 445th Bomb Squadron, 321st Bomb Group USAAF |
| Area Served: | United States |
Gene E.
Lefler, son of Herman and Clara Lefler, was born in Norfolk, Nebraska on
August 26, 1920. He attended Norfolk High School before his family moved
to Omaha, Nebraska, where his father drove a taxi cab.
Lefler
played American Legion baseball with the Kenneth Goldens and sandlot
ball with the Siders of the Ak-Sar-Ben League. Working as a truck driver
when not playing baseball, he was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals
organization in August 1941, and was to report to the Decatur Commodores
of the Class B Three-I League the following spring. However, military
service intervened and Lefler joined the Army Air Corps in January 1942.
Lefler
trained at Kessler Field, Mississippi and Santa Monica, California,
where he qualified as a flight engineer. On November 7, 1942, just 10
months after entering service, Sergeant Lefler was part of a four-man
crew on a North American B-25C Mitchell bomber that was on a routine
training flight from Anderson Field, South Carolina. They were part of
the 445th Bomb Squadron of the 321st Bomb Group
and were preparing for combat service in North Africa. The twin-engined
bomber, piloted by Second-Lieutenant Douglas W. Cole, exploded in
mid-air and crash-landed in a swamp 18 miles east of Walterboro, South
Carolina. All four crew members perished in the accident.
Gene Lefler was returned to Omaha and he was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Date Added: September 22, 2020
Can you add more information to this biography and help make it the best online resourse for this player? Contact us by email
Read Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice Through The Years - an online year-by-year account of military related deaths of ballplayers
Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is associated with Baseball Almanac
Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is proud to be sponsored by
