Walter W. Slont, World War II CasualtyPorter County Data on World War II Casualties . . . .
Walter W. Slont
Second Lieutenant, US Army Air Corps
Date of Birth: October 7, 1922
Date of Death: July 20, 1944
Cause of Death: Airplane Accident (collision of two B-24 bombers near Roswell,
New Mexico)
Hometown: Liberty Township
Newspaper Notices:
Lt. W. Slont Killed As Two Planes Hit
Second Lieut. Walter W. Slont, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Slont residing on
Campbell Road near Liberty Center, six miles north of Valparaiso, met death
Thursday when two B-24 bombers collided in flight near Roswell, New Mexico.
Ten men were killed in the mishap and seven parachuted to safety, Biggs Field
officials announced today. Details of the accident were not announced.
Word of Slont's death was received by the parents in a telegram this morning
from Randolph Field, Tex.
The bombers were enroute from El Paso, Texas, to Roswell, New Mexico, at the
time of the crash, it was announced.
Slont, a pilot, was 22 years of age and received his commission at B-----,
Texas, on February 8 last.
He was born in Chesterton on Oct. 7, 1922, and was graduated from Liberty Center
high school in 1940. He enlisted in the U. S. Air Corps in 1942 and was called
for duty on January 26, 1943.
Surviving besides his parents are a brother, Oliver, and sister, Emma, at home,
and his grandmother, Mrs. Sophie Pope.
The body will be brought to the Edmonds funeral home in Chesterton, but the time
of its arrival is not yet known.
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Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana;
July 21, 1944; Volume 18, Page 1, Column 5
Rites Wednesday For Lt. W. Slont
Memorial services for Second Lieut. Walter Slont, who was killed in an Army
bomber crash near Roswell, New Mexico, last Thursday, will be held at 2 p. m.
Wednesday at the St. John's Evangelical and Reformed church in Chesterton.
A full military funeral will be held for the Chesterton boy, an officer in the
U. S. Army Air Corps. Rev. Stanley Hartman will officiate. Burial will be in
Chesterton cemetery. The body will be at Edmonds Funeral home tonight.
Slont was flying in a B-24 bomber from El Paso, Texas, to Roswell when his plane
and another B-24 collided. Ten men were killed in the mishap and seven
parachuted to safety.
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Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana;
July 24, 1944; Volume 18, Page 2, Column 6
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List of
Porter County World War II Casualties
Information abstracted and transcribed by Steven R. Shook