FIRST LIEUTENANT DONALD CAMPBELL STEVENS; U.S. ARMY AIR FORCE

DOB/DOD: November 28, 1920 (Norwalk, CT) – June 22, 1944; 23 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married Frances Van Deventer (1926-?) on June 1, 1943, in Darien
LOCAL ADDRESS: 196 East Avenue
ENLISTMENT: May 4, 1942
SERVICE NUMBER: O-804246
UNIT: 394th Fighter Squadron, 367th Fighter Group
STATUS: Missing In Action (MIA)

FAMILY: Born to William I. (1895-1969) and Gertrude J. Campbell Stevens (1895-1993). Half-sister Mary Alice Stevens Dunnicliff (1917-2009).

DECORATIONS: Awarded the Air Medal three times.

CIRCUMSTANCES: Died in a P-38 plane crash

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Norwalk High School Class of ‘38

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From the Connecticut Military Portrait Collection, Connecticut State Library, Identifier: PG570; used with permission.

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From the Norwalk Hour July 12, 1944

The family of Lieutenant Donald C. Stevens, 23, of the U.S. Army Air Corps, today awaited further word regarding his safety, hopeful that while he is missing on a flight over France from England, he may have landed safely. He was the pilot of a Lockheed Lightning pursuit ship, and on the flight on which he had been reported missing, he was part of the escort for big bombers raiding the continent. Word of his being missing was received by his wife, Frances Van Deventer Stevens of Rowayton. Lieutenant Stevens is a son of Mrs. Gertrude Stevens of 196 East Avenue and grandson of Mrs. Fred Campbell of the same address, also of Postmaster and Mrs. Frank Stevens of Rowayton. His father is commander William I. Stevens of the U.S. Navy Reserve on duty in San Francisco, and his wife is a swimming instructor at a Connecticut camp. His uncle, Donald Campbell, is a naval air gunnery instructor in Brazil.

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Witness statement: P-38 Lightning, type J-15-LO, serial number 42-104316. Mission: Strafing and bombing South Cherbourg. Take Off Station 452 Stoney Cross, Hampshire UK. Shot down by flak during a low-altitude attack – Crashes in Flames – 1:15 p.m. Eye witness statement reads, “After crossing the southern tip of Cherbourg, France, I saw a P-38 airplane, which I believed Lt DONALD C. STEVENS to be flying, burst into flames and crash. We were flying at 0 feet altitude when the accident occurred.” Signed, Edward D. Michelson, 2d Lt, Army Air Force

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Memorialized in Norwalk Union Cemetery, Ward Street, Norwalk, Connecticut; Section D, plot 235 (his mother’s plot)

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Memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery, Rte du Cimetiere Americain, 14710, Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Photo provided by Carol Tyler, Public Affairs Assistant, American Battle Monuments Commission, Arlington, Virginia.

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