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William Dean Whitaker

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William Dean Whitaker

Birth
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Death
14 Jul 2022 (aged 97)
Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada, USA
Burial
Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada, USA
Memorial ID
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Born in Los Angeles, Whitaker enlisted as a bombardier in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943 and attended gunnery training at Las Vegas Army Airfield, better known today as Nellis Air Force Base. He was assigned to Eighth Air Force and flew 20 missions over Europe in a B-17 Flying Fortress from Royal Air Force Base Nuthampstead in England. He earned a Purple Heart for injuries sustained on his first mission, and his 20th and final mission ended when his plane was shot down over Merseburg, Germany. Whitaker was taken prisoner and survived seven months in a POW camp before liberation by the U.S. Third Army under the command of Gen. George S. Patton in 1945. Following the war, Whitaker returned to California where he worked as a school teacher, a firefighter, and an architect, building homes throughout Laguna Beach. He moved to Las Vegas soon after retirement.

GRAVESIDE SERVICE
Friday
July 29, 2022
1:00 PM
Palm Valley View Cemetery
7600 S Eastern Ave
Las Vegas, NV 89120
Born in Los Angeles, Whitaker enlisted as a bombardier in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943 and attended gunnery training at Las Vegas Army Airfield, better known today as Nellis Air Force Base. He was assigned to Eighth Air Force and flew 20 missions over Europe in a B-17 Flying Fortress from Royal Air Force Base Nuthampstead in England. He earned a Purple Heart for injuries sustained on his first mission, and his 20th and final mission ended when his plane was shot down over Merseburg, Germany. Whitaker was taken prisoner and survived seven months in a POW camp before liberation by the U.S. Third Army under the command of Gen. George S. Patton in 1945. Following the war, Whitaker returned to California where he worked as a school teacher, a firefighter, and an architect, building homes throughout Laguna Beach. He moved to Las Vegas soon after retirement.

GRAVESIDE SERVICE
Friday
July 29, 2022
1:00 PM
Palm Valley View Cemetery
7600 S Eastern Ave
Las Vegas, NV 89120

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