Lieutenant Joseph Henry Gardner

Joseph Henry Gardner was born in 1916, the middle of three children, to Alexander and Jessie Gardner. He was raised on the family ranch in Sierra Blanca TX until 1926 when his mother died from typhoid fever. He then began living with relatives and in 1930 was living with his uncle in El Paso where we attended and graduated from Austin HS. His records of attendance at NMAMC have not yet been found. In 1940 he is in Hudspeth County TX serving as a ranch hand. In 1941 he enlisted in the USAAF and proceeded to officer school and then on to training as a pilot in medium bomber aircraft. On March 3, 1944 he was participating in a formation training flight out of Otis AFB Massachusetts when his aircraft, Douglas Dauntless RA-24B #42-54555 crashed into waters ½ mile off Nonamasset Island Massachusetts. Although totally submerged, divers were able to eventually recover his body. Later that month he was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in El Paso. He was 28 years of age at the time of his death.