Thomas Foster Jenkins

Lt. Thomas Foster Jenkins was born December 6, 1918 in Middleton, Tennessee to John and Johnnie Jenkins. In later years, the family moved to Grand Junction, Tennessee, where Jenkins graduated from Grand Junction High School in 1935. He worked for the Commercial Credit Corporation until he enlisted in the United States Army Air Force on October 28, 1942.
On July 28, 1943 at Turner Field in Albany, Georgia, Jenkins received his flight wings and in March of 1944, as a pilot of a B-26 with the 587th Squadron, 394th bomb group, 9th Bomber Command, Jenkins headed to England to prepare for the Invasion of France. He left behind a pregnant wife, Mary Helen Jenkins, who gave birth to a son on May 25, 1944.
After months of preparation, the allied invasion of Northern France was scheduled for June 6, 1944. Around six in the morning, Jenkins, piloting the B-26 42-96249, took off from England to bomb defensive positions in France prior to naval landings scheduled to take place that morning. Shortly after takeoff, Jenkins' aircraft collided with B-26, 42-107592 that lost control due to ice buildup on its wings. His aircraft crashed near Ashburnham Place, in East Sussex, England. All crew members were killed.
Thomas Foster Jenkins was 25 when he was killed. He is buried in the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky.

By Tanner Christy