US Army Air Corps Sergeant Thomas "Tommy" Erie Dubuisson was born in Pensacola, Florida on October 19, 1924, the son of Benjamin Adrian Dubuisson (1900-1968) and Mary Elizabeth Koeper (1876-1940). The Dubuisson family can be traced back to France and subsequent immigration to New Orleans. Their paternal ancestor was Theodule (1813-1869) who would settle amongst the French population in the community of Slidell, Louisiana. Eventually, Theodule fell in love with Miss Annie Eugenia Sellier (1846-1907) and they were married in the great crescent city shortly afterwards. Three children were born from this union, that of Louis Adrian (1859-1928), Jules Eugene (1861-), and Mark Alphonse Dubuisson (1864-). When the boys reached manhood, they migrated to Pensacola around 1881. One thing led to another resulting in Jules and Mark forming a business called the J. E. Dubuisson & Company located at 220 East Wright Street. Thus, the Dubuisson family and their company became a well-known icon in the Pensacola area for decades afterwards.
Louis Adrian's oldest son was Benjamin Adrian Dubuisson who was born in Pensacola and entered the work force in 1916 as a grocery clerk while living in the family home at 224 East Intendencia Street (built 1920). In 1922, he would marry Miss Mary Elizabeth Koeper whose family had relocated to Pensacola in 1911 and who also lived on Intendencia Street. Born in South Carolina, she was working as a saleslady in 1920 while her father Claus Koeper supported their family as a landscape gardener. Shortly after they were married Benjamin went to work for the Welles Kahn Company as the couple moved into 209 East Romana Street. By 1931, Benjamin had become a salesman for the West Florida Grocery Company. Nine years later he was an agent for the Peninsular Life Insurance Company with an office in the American Bank Building. In 1942, his daughter Gloria was a saleslady at Harrell's Drugstore while her brother Tommy dropped out of Pensacola High School in 1940 and went to work as a manager for Joe Williams at his "Joe's Men Shop" at 162 South Palafox Street.
Then came Pearl Harbor and America's quiet tranquility was over! At the time, Tommy had been courting a fellow classmate, Helen Virginia "Pete" Davis from the future class of 1945. But America had called forth her warriors and the men of Pensacola lined up to offer their services to their nation. He would enlist on November 24, 1943, and was sent to Camp Blanding for processing and orientation. After basic training, he was sent to gunnery school at Gowen Field, Idaho, which he completed in August 1944. Immediately upon finishing, he and Helen (1927-) were married on August 29, 1944, in Pensacola, Florida. She was the daughter of LCDR Frank Albert Davis (1897-1963) and Irene Kostelak (1898-1959) who had married in 1916 and would split up in 1947. Her father had enlisted in the US Navy in 1906 and would retire in Pensacola in 1947, a veteran of WWI and WWII.
In the meantime, Tommy was assigned to a B-24 Liberator bomber with the 727th Bomber Squadron of the 451st Heavy Bomber Group with the 15th Air Force. He was promoted to Sergeant and began flying bombing missions as a left waist gunner during the Italian campaign. On November 4, 1944, he and his crew took off from Italy's Castelluccio Airfield to strike the town of Kufstein, Germany. Afterwards, they were returning and for whatever reason, their aircraft left the formation after crossing the Adriatic Sea and crashed into a mountain in Italy.
His wife was working at the Pensacola News Journal when she received a telegram from the War Department at her home at 2000 East Maxwell Street on the 21st of November. The telegram stated that Tommy was missing in action over Italy as of November 4, 1944. His body was later recovered from the crash site and hastily buried in a temporary grave. After the war he was exhumed and buried in the American military cemetery in Florence, Italy. Helen would marry again to Joseph L. Caughman (1924-2011) who in 1952 was Pensacola's division manager of Sears & Roebuck.
I am Tommy Dubuisson’s first cousin on his mother’s side. This is incredible information that I’ve never seen. May I ask who authored this post? Thanks!