Luther Tillery was born in Dallas on October 7, 1922. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School, where he lettered in football for two years He also attended Texas A&M College before entering the Army on January 14, 1943.
1943 Longhorn:
Tillery was a member of Headquarters Company, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, a part of the 82d Airborne Division.
He was identified as one of the 100 Raveno Boys, paratroopers who liberated the village of Ravenoville on June 7, 1944, and is memorialized there with this plaque:
Marney was killed in a horrific air accident on March 14, 1945, when a C-47 dropping paratroopers lost a propeller and flew into men who had just jumped. Chutes were caught on the wings and tail and either fell to the ground or went down with the plane in a huge explosion.
Operation Luftwaffe
On 14 March 1945 units of the Division made a practice jump with codename Operation Luftwaffe. The 508th was scheduled as one of the last units to jump. 1-508 and Regimental Headquarters Company were scheduled for the morning of the 14th and before dawn 1st battalion began the motor march to the airport on the outskirts of Reims.
After drawing chutes and loading equipment bundles, the men piled aboard the C-47s. A flight of almost an hour brought the 42-plane formation over the dropzone. As the men began to pour from the doors disaster struck: one of the planes at the end of the formation threw the propeller from its right engine and quickly lost altitude. The pilot desperately tried to get above the formation, but his attempts were unsuccessful. As the plane lost altitude it began running into the men who had jumped from planes at the front of the formation.
Chute after chute was picked up on the wing and tail as the C-47 plunged earthward. With a sickening crash, it plowed into the ground and burst into flames. General Gavin, who came to the DZ to observe the jump, took command of the situation. He sent all the 1st Battalion men back and let the medics handle the crash. 6 members of the 508th and the plane's crew of four died that day.
He was reburied at Grove Hill Memorial Park, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
1943 Longhorn:
Tillery was a member of Headquarters Company, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, a part of the 82d Airborne Division.
He was identified as one of the 100 Raveno Boys, paratroopers who liberated the village of Ravenoville on June 7, 1944, and is memorialized there with this plaque:
Marney was killed in a horrific air accident on March 14, 1945, when a C-47 dropping paratroopers lost a propeller and flew into men who had just jumped. Chutes were caught on the wings and tail and either fell to the ground or went down with the plane in a huge explosion.
Operation Luftwaffe
On 14 March 1945 units of the Division made a practice jump with codename Operation Luftwaffe. The 508th was scheduled as one of the last units to jump. 1-508 and Regimental Headquarters Company were scheduled for the morning of the 14th and before dawn 1st battalion began the motor march to the airport on the outskirts of Reims.
After drawing chutes and loading equipment bundles, the men piled aboard the C-47s. A flight of almost an hour brought the 42-plane formation over the dropzone. As the men began to pour from the doors disaster struck: one of the planes at the end of the formation threw the propeller from its right engine and quickly lost altitude. The pilot desperately tried to get above the formation, but his attempts were unsuccessful. As the plane lost altitude it began running into the men who had jumped from planes at the front of the formation.
Chute after chute was picked up on the wing and tail as the C-47 plunged earthward. With a sickening crash, it plowed into the ground and burst into flames. General Gavin, who came to the DZ to observe the jump, took command of the situation. He sent all the 1st Battalion men back and let the medics handle the crash. 6 members of the 508th and the plane's crew of four died that day.
He was reburied at Grove Hill Memorial Park, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas