Floyd Martin Vevle was born on December 9, 1922 in Fort Dodge, Webster County Iowa. His parents were Oliver and Elizabeth (Louise) Cleveland Vevle, who were both born in Illinois. He had two brothers, his twin Lloyd and older brother Rudolph. All three brothers served in WWII. Lloyd was also a pilot and he was KIA on September 28, 1944. Floyd's mother died when he was two and his father remarried, he was then raised by his stepmother Martha. His father worked as a bank teller.

Vevle joined the US Air Corps of the US Army Reserve as a private in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 4, 1942 and attended college for 2 years. He served during World War II and had the rank of First Lieutenant. Service number was O-774827. Served with 390th Bomber Group, Heavy, 568th Bomber Squadron as a Co Pilot.

Vevle was reported missing and ultimately declared dead on January 14, 1945. He was on his 27th mission with the crew of the B-17 #44-8426 on a mission to bomb the oil refinery at Derben. Their aircraft was lost during intense fighter attacks and crashed at Wachow, Germany. Due to the fact that the entire squadron of eight B-17's with the 568th Bomber Squadron was lost during this attack, there are no particulars available on the attack and subsequent loss of aircraft.

1st Lt. Vevle was initially buried at the community cemetery of Wachow on 16 January 1945. During the interment of American casualties at this cemetery, his remains were never found. He is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Henri-Chapelle, Belgium. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location.

The Vevle brothers were one of three sets of twins from the Fort Dodge area to serve in WWII as pilots. His twin brother Lt. Lloyd O Vevle served with the US Air Corps and was killed on September 28, 1944 during a mid air collision. He is buried at the American War Cemetery Ardennes in Belgium.

COMMENDATIONS

Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters

Purple Heart

4 casualties related to the #44-8426 incident on January 14, 1945.

Right Waist Gunner: S/Sgt. Leon J Cousineau, CA

Radio Operator: T/Sgt. Robert G Hehr, NY

Pilot: 1st Lt. Alvin J Morman, IA

Co Pilot: 1st Lt. Floyd M Vevle, IA

4 Prisoner of War);

Navigator: 2nd Lt. Jack Simon

Bombardier: Sgt. Bob Springborn,

Top turret: T/Sgt. Marion Manfredini,

Tail Gunner: S/Sgt. Sam Barton

Ball Turret: S/Sgt. Jim Stieg (evaded capture)

Thank you for your supreme sacrifice in service to your country.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project _https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

Sources:

https://www.ancestry.com/ - 1920, 1930, 1940 census, draft card

https://www.findagrave.com/

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php

https://www.fieldsofhonor-database.com/index.php/en/