Francis James Ploger, Jr., was born on 6 December 1923, in Aurora, Illinois, to Frank and Rose (Miller) Ploger. By 1930, the family had settled in Peru, Illinois, renting a home at 1125 Eighth Street. Living with them was Rose’s brother, Eugene Miller. Both Frank Sr. and Eugene were veterans of the First World War—Frank had served in the 129th Infantry in France, where he was wounded in action, while Eugene had also served. Frank Sr. was working as a sales manager at an auto company, and Eugene as a salesman at the same firm.
A decade later, the Plogers had put down firmer roots in Peru, now owning a home at 1528 Second Street. Frank Sr. had moved into work as a salesman at an auto parts store. Francis’s sister Mary was away attending college, and Francis himself was in his first year of high school. In 1941, his sister Mary Lou married Albert Mattern in New Jersey.
By the time Francis registered for the draft on 27 June 1942, his life had taken him away from Peru. He registered in Chicago, Illinois, where he was living and attending the American Aircraft Institute, training in the aviation trade. He was 18 years old, stood 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighed 140 pounds, and had brown hair and brown eyes.
A few weeks before his nineteenth birthday, on 20 November1942, Francis enlisted in the Navy Reserves in Detroit, Michigan, receiving service number 3125009. He was working at the time as an aircraft metalsmith, a skill set that aligned well with the Navy’s growing need for trained aviation personnel.
His naval training began in earnest on 15 February 1943, when he entered a 16-week course as an Airborne Radio Operator at the Great Lakes U.S. Naval Training Station in Illinois. He then traveled south to Hollywood, Florida, where in June he completed a ground course in Naval Air Gunnery. On 24 July 1943, he reported for duty at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His fingerprint record from this period notes a missing tip of his right index finger.
In October 1943, with 47 hours of flight time logged, Aviation Radioman Third Class Ploger was transferred to Quonset Point in Rhode Island. There he served temporary duty fitting out Torpedo Squadron Thirteen (VT-13). He was by then a qualified combat aircrewman, qualified in the TBF-1 Avenger torpedo bomber. During this period he earned a special commendation for satisfactorily performing extra duties and responsibilities as a section leader while in training.
Torpedo Squadron Thirteen was assigned to the USS Franklin (CV-13), a Essex-class aircraft carrier operating in the Pacific. In late October 1944, the Franklin was engaged in operations near Luzon Island in the Philippines, part of the vast naval campaign surrounding the Battle of Leyte Gulf. On 25 October 1944, eight planes from VT-13 launched to attack enemy ships. ARM3c Ploger flew as a crew member aboard one of those aircraft. During the attack on an enemy carrier task force, his plane was shot down by an enemy fighter and crashed into the sea. There were no survivors. The two other men who died alongside Francis were Ensign Thomas Perkins Brooks, Jr., and Aviation Ordnanceman First Class Harold Joseph Shane.
Because Francis was lost at sea and no reports were received confirming his survival, the military was required under Section 5 of Public Law 490 to wait a year and a day before formally declaring him dead. Accordingly, his official date of death in service records is listed as 26 October 1945, one year and a day after his plane was lost.
Francis’s personal effects were returned to his family. They included a wallet with pictures, his wings and campaign ribbons, a flight log book with personal photos and negatives, prayer books, and a knife with case. A cash amount of $73.31 was also returned. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. Because his remains were never recovered, his name is inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
The losses of the war years were not finished with the Ploger family. In 1947, Francis’s mother Rose passed away from injuries sustained in an automobile accident.
Francis James Ploger, Jr., was 20 years old when he was lost over the Philippine Sea. He had gone from the halls of the American Aircraft Institute in Chicago to the cockpit of a torpedo bomber in the Pacific in just two years.
This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project 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? If you noticed anything missing in this profile, you may contact the author. Click on the author’s name located at the bottom of the story page next to the words “added by.”
- SBTSProject/Illinois/LaSalle
- SBTS Historian: Pam Broviak
- Many thanks to John Mier for accessing this soldier’s OMPF to help better write his story.
Sources:
- “1930 United States Federal Census,” Peru, Illinois, Frank Ploger, Ancestry.
- “1940 United States Federal Census,” Peru, Illinois, Frank Ploger, Ancestry
- “Register of Marriages: Kane. Marriage Registers 1909,” James T. Ploger and Linnea Tebeau, Kane County, 1909, FamilySearch.
- “Register of Marriages: Kane. Marriage Registers 1915–1918,” Francis James Ploger and Rose Mary Miller, Kane County, 1917, FamilySearch.
- “In the Service of Uncle Sam,” Rockford Morning Star, 28 Feb 1919, p. 14, col 2, GenealogyBank.
- “Veterans Affair Master Index 1917 1940, Prior War File | 76193916,” Francis James Ploger, FamilySearch.
- “U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947,” Francis James Ploger, Jr., Ancestry.
- “U.S., Navy Cruise Books, 1918-2009,” USS Franklin CV=13, 1942–1946, unpaginated, image 71 of 144, Ancestry.
- State of Illinois, “Coroner’s Certificate of Death,” Cook County, Oct. 1947, Rose May Ploger, FamilySearch.
- Official Military Personnel File, Francis James Ploger, NARA.
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56773760/francis-james-ploger
