Clinton Cross
Clinton Ethen Cross (Nov. 16, 1920 – Nov. 14, 1944) was a man from the Smith Creek area who was killed in World War II.
See Also: Scott Countians killed in war
Biography
Born Nov. 16, 1920, Clinton E. Cross was the son of Henry Columbus Cross (1882-1947) and Manerva Pennington (1878-1963). His siblings included Ruby Phillips (1902-1978), Ella Costello (1904-1987), Dona Cross (1906-1994), Ledford Cross (1909-1982), William Harrison Cross (1910-1990), Laveda Chambers (1913-1999), Clifton B. Cross (1915-2000), and Catherine McCann (1918-2007).
The Cross family was from Smith Creek. Clinton’s grandfather, William Harrison Cross, was a brother to Larkin Cross, who was murdered by Confederate soldiers during the Civil War.
He married Leah Chambers, of Norma, the daughter of Horace Jackson Chambers (1894-1974) and Della Mae Foust (1899-1962). She served in the U.S. Army as a nurse during World War II.
He was a second cousin, once removed, to Millard Cross, who was also killed during World War II.
World War II
Sgt. Cross enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on Nov. 15, 1943 at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., one day before his 23rd birthday, and was assigned to the 451st Bomber Group, 725th Bomber Squadron. He fought in the European theater of World War II, departing for an overseas destination on July 15, 1944.
When he registered for the draft in 1941, Cross worked for Wright Aeronautical Corporation in Lockland, Oh. The plant had been built that same year to manufacture aircraft engines for use during the war. It produced engines for the B-17, among other aircraft.
Sgt. Cross was a left waist gunner on a B-24H that was nicknamed “Scrappy.” The plane left Castellucio Field in Italy on a mission to bomb oil storage tanks in Vienna, Austria on Aug. 22, 1944. On the return to base, the plane dropped out of the formation. All crew members bailed out near Daruvar, Yugoslavia. The pilot and co-pilot made it back to base. Other crew members were taken prisoner of war. There is conflicting information on Sgt. Cross’s fate. A crew member reported that he also made it back but was killed later during an accident on a take-off from the base. His obituary at the time of his death stated that he had been a prisoner of war at one point. The latter seems unlikely.
Sgt. Cross died in a non-combat situation on Nov. 14, 1944 in Italy, apparently during a crack-up on takeoff. He was killed two days before his 24th birthday. A hospital admission card shows he was admitted for a non-battle injury suffered in the line of duty.
Aftermath
Sgt. Cross’s remains were returned to Scott County for burial at the Lay-Cross Cemetery on Smith Creek. He is listed on the VFW Post 5669 Memorial Wall in Oneida, the Scott County Veterans Memorial in Huntsville, and the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial in Knoxville.
He was posthumously awarded the Air Medal, which was accepted by his widow, Lt. Leah Cross. She later remarried and spent the rest of her career in the nursing industry.
