Verga. Edward A.

Description

Edward A Verga was born on June 22, 1924, in Buffalo, New York. In Rye his family lived at 126 Midland Ave. Edward was a Rye High School Graduate, Class of 1943.

At RHS was active in sports and was a Dads Club Award winner for Shop Proficiency. Before the war, Edward was working at Peter Reeves Grocery Store(Playland Market) on Forrest Ave. He enlisted and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.

Edward entered service July 1943. He was a Tail Gunner on the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress “Spooky” in the 8th Air Force”s 452nd Bomb Group.

A Tail Gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter or interceptor attacks from the rear, or “tail”, of the plane.

The 452nd Bomb Group was just one of the twenty four B-17 Heavy Bomber Groups that would eventually become stationed in England as part of the United States Army’s Eighth Air Force.

In addition to the B-17 Groups, four Medium Bomber Groups, nearly twenty Fighter Groups, and nineteen Heavy B-24 Bomber Groups would also make up parts of the mighty Eighth Air Force in England. The 452nd Bomb Group would be among the last of the B-17 Heavy Bomber Groups to arrive in England, but the timing of its arrival would later prove to be at a critical time in the War’s history.

The Group’s first combat mission occurred on February 5, 1944, after training in England for a month. The last mission occurred on April 21, 1945, after completing 250 total combat missions in the European Theater.

On the Groups 191st mission on January 17, 1945, the target was Hamburg, Gremany. Edwards plane was shot down on this mission and he was reported missing.

Sgt. Edward A. Verga, son of Mrs.
Marguerite Verga of Larchmont formerly of Rye, has been missing in
action over Germany since January
t7. He is a tail gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress with the Third Bombardment Division, It was this Division
that was cited by President Roosevelt for its shuttle bombing of Regensburg, Germany.
Sgt. Verga, who graduated from
Rye High School in June 1943, entered
the Army Air Forces the following
month. He had been stationed at an
Eighth Army Air Force base in England.

At first reported as missing, Edward parachuted to saftey, was captured and became a prisoner of war. By examining his tombstone we can see Edward was awarded the Purple Heart and the Air Medal.

He returned to the U.S. and married Sylvia Mary Pietzak on July 7, 1951, in New Rochelle, New York.

Edward A. Verga died on December 16, 2017, in New York at the age of 93, and was buried in Calverton, New York.

Name: Edward Anthony Verga
Race: White
Age: 18
Birth Date: 22 Jun 1924
Birth Place: Buffalo, New York
Residence Place: Rye, West., New York
Registration Date: 30 Jun 1942
Registration Place: Mamaroneck, New York, USA
Employer: Peter Reeves Grocery Store
Weight: 146
Complexion: Light
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Brown
Height: 5” 9″
Next of Kin: Edward Lodge

Name: Edward A Verga
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Death Age: 93
Birth Date: 22 Jun 1924
Death Date: 16 Dec 2017
Internment Place: Calverton, New York, USA
Cemetery Address: 210 Princeton Boulevard
Cemetery Other Street Address: Rt 25
Cemetery Postal Code: 11933
Cemetery: Calverton National Cemetery
Section: 22
Plot: 79
War: World War II
Branch of Service: US Army Air Forces