28May1919 – 8Feb1944
Edison Days
Clayton’s name is on the plaque honoring Tommies who died in service during World War 2. No other documentation of Claytons’s connection to Edison has been found at this time.
Military Service
Branch: United States Army Air Corps
Rank: 2nd Lieutenant
Unit: 326th Bomb Squadron – 92nd Bomb Group (Heavy)
Little is known about Clayton’s early army career.
Based in Podington, England, on 8Feb1944 he was the co-pilot of a B-17G Flying Fortress on a bombing mission of the railroad marshalling yards at Frankfurt, Germany. Clayton’s plane was attacked and damaged by eight (8) German Luftwaffe FW-190 fighter planes. The plane went into a flat spin and it was reported that all ten (10) crew members bailed out. The plane crashed near Catheux, France.
Clayton was originally reported as Missing in Action (MIA).
Clayton’s whereabouts were unknown at the end of the war, and he was declared dead via a Finding of Death (FOD).
A Finding of Death (FOD) is a determination that a soldier is dead, even though their body has not been recovered. This determination is made when there is conclusive evidence that the soldier is dead, or overwhelming evidence that they could not have survived.
Evidence suggests that Clayton’s remains were located within a couple of years of the end of the war.
There is a memorial to Clayton and his nine (9) crewmates in Catheaux.
Clayton’s remains were returned to Minnesota in 1949. He is buried at Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery in Minneapolis.
Edison Heroes 