Known to have flown P-51D CY-D 44-15735

Not Known

Not Known

Entered service from Waldron, Indiana.
MACR No. 13918
Flight Officer George W. Bernardo reported: "I saw Lt. Apple crash while firing at a Ju-88.  He was low and to the left, 200 feet from me, when he bellied in before his target.  He was firing at the time of contact with the ground and continued to do so for 30 feet when he pulled off.  He gained 100 feet altitude continuing a straight course for 100 yards.  His plane at this time started to leak smoke and liquid from the engine and coolant radiator.  He was making a gentle level turn to the left when his prop stopped turning and he fell in more or less flat.  Upon contact with the ground his guns were firing as though he were trying to pull-out.  The wings of his aircraft were broken off and the fuselage was broken open at the cockpit.  I flew over the wreckage several times but could not see movement."
Lt. Apple was hit by flak while strafing near Dresden, Germany.  He is buried at Plot C, Row 2, Grave 43, in the Ardennes American Military Cemetery and Memorial, Neupre, Belgium.
Reproduced with kind permission of Mr. Robert M. Littlefield from the author's book Double Nickel - Double Trouble