05/24/2026
MEMORIAL DAY: Alvie Ray Jeans was an 18-year-old from and was working with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), DeRidder, Co. 4414, when he registered for the service.
He was serving as a Technical Sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps with the 343rd Bomber Squadron, 98th Bomber Group, Heavy, when he was killed Dec. 23, 1944 in an air crash.
Jeans and other crew members crashed on Mount Vulture, two miles from the town of Rionero, Italy. It was assumed they experienced challenging weather conditions. It was a non-battle accident.
Because a full combat crew was not needed for the flight, ground personnel were offered seats on the plane, and it took off with 13 men aboard, three more than the normal number of crewmen.
Jeans’ remains were never returned home. He is buried at Plot H, Row 8, Grave 36 in the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy.
