Eugene Le Veque was the Ball Turret Gunner of a B-17 that was nicknamed Hard to Get.  It belonged to  the 368 Bombardment Squadron of the 306 Bombardment Group.  The pilot of the Hard To Get was First Lieutenant Dean Allen.  On 26 August 1944, the Hard To Get was on a mission to bomb synthetic oil refineries at Gelsenkirchen, Germany.  As the Hard To Get was on its final approach to the target, it was hit by anti-aircraft fire which hit the left wing and ignited a fire in the bomb bay.  Allen gave the order to bail out, near Budberg in Germany.

In the ensuing chaos, Eugene was unable to bailout and died onboard the Hard to Get.  The same was true of the Copilot (1LT Charles U. Rapp, Jr.) and the  Radio Operator (T/SGT Robert B. Newsbigle.) The bombadier, 1LT Michael Vlahos, bailed out of the aircraft and was either hit by flak or deliberately shot by the Nazis as he fell to the ground.  All four are buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery.

The remaining crew members were captured.  As they were being transported to a POW camp, 2LT Charles H. Evans (the Navigator), and TSGT Harvey J. Purkey (the Flight Engineer) managed to escape.  However, they were soon recaptured by an angry mob of German civilians.  Two Nazis, one of whom was the local Chief of Police, beat both of them to death.  Following the war, the two Nazis were tried and sentenced to death for their murders.  Evans is buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery.

The information above is based upon
MACR 8464
The attached account of the Hard To Get’s final mission provided by Henri Hannon
A biography of Michael Vlahos published online by Scott Muselin, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56361428/michael-l-vlahos
The Obituary of Lester Vlahoshttps://www.legacy.com/obituaries/springfield/obituary.aspx?n=lester-lou...