1LT Rhette G. Gillen 03-30-1945
US ARMY AIR CORPS WWII
94th Fighter Squadron 1st Fighter Group | KIA 3/30/1945 | Remains never found
R. G. Gillen, or Rhette Gillen was the Senior class President, and graduate of Granbury High School, and was actually listed in the National High School Who’s Who, in 1940. He wrote an essay on the subject What Democracy Means To Me. His convictions, about what our Nation stood for, at a time when the world was at war over different ideologies, led him to enlist in the U.S. Air Corps, and serve his country. He was chosen to fly escort for the President of the United States, when F.D.Roosevelt flew to the Big 3 conference in Yalta. A pilot that flew with Gillen, told how, on his last mission, he was flying wing for their Col. Who was hit with ground fire (Flak) and bailed out. Moments later, R. G. Gillen’s plane was hit as well, however, Gillen did not bail out. Eberhardt, stated that they lost radio contact, and his plane crashed. R. G. Gillen, died for the country and the principles he wrote about 5 years earlier. He was from a blended family, and 4 of his siblings were serving as well, 3 brothers, and a sister.
