Charles E. Van Ausdall was the pilot of a B-17 (42-31812) that was nicknamed Destiny’s Child. On 20 July 1944, Destiny’s Child was on a mission to bomb the Mockau Airfield near Liepzig in Germany.  As they came close to the target, the tail gunner Vernon Winters spotted German F-109s coming up to attack them from the rear.  The fighters hit one of Destiny’s Child’s engines, damaged its wings, and set the plane on fire.  Charles gave the order to bailout, and five of the crewmembers were able to do so.  However, the other four, including Charles, were still on board when the plane went into a spin and exploded in mid-air near Chemnitz.  Destiny Child’s tail gunner, Vernon Winters and its (acting) Flight Engineer Charles Sullivan are also buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery.

Information from MACR 7281, 91st Bomb Group Associaiton (http://www.91stbombgroup.com/crewphotos/destinyschild2.html), and an account from the diary of the Bombadier, John Butler, http://www.b17queenofthesky.com/missionstories/destinyschild.html