August 30, 1921 (Norwalk, CT) – January 22, 1945; 23 years old
Unmarried
Last local address: Comstock Hill Road, Norwalk
Enlisted on July 24, 1942
Service Number: 347063
USS ESSEX (CV-9)
MIA (at sea)
Awarded the Air Medal and Purple Heart Medal
From The Norwalk Hour February 1, 1945
Ensign Frank Harper Bissell Jr. son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Harper Bissell Sr., of Comstock Avenue, has been killed in action in the Pacific Theatre of War according to a Navy Department telegram received by his mother. Ensign Bissell, who was a possessor of several stars for participation in major engagements, was a fighter pilot of a Grumman Avenger. He attended Suffield Academy, Class of ’40. His Navy training included courses at University of North Carolina; Corpus Christi, Texas, and Glenville, Illinois. In civilian life he was a life guard during summers at the Longshore Club. His brother William, has been in Italy with the Army for the past three years, serving as an engineer and photographer.
Grumman Avenger from flightjournal.com
From Navsource.org photo archive of the USS Essex in 1943
Memorialized at Sea Tablets of the Missing, Courts of the Missing, Court 5 at Honolulu Memorial Honolulu, Hawaii
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