LT Sydney Samet

Lieutenant Sydney Samet answered the call to service during World War II after beginning college at North Carolina State University. He left NC State in 1942 to join the United States Army Air Forces, completed aviation and gunnery training, and served as a bombardier in the 724th Bomb Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group, Fifteenth Air Force, based in Italy.

As a member of the 451st (the group that flew B-24 Liberators in strategic bombing missions across the Mediterranean and Central Europe), Samet flew on high-risk daylight raids against enemy industrial and air targets. The 451st participated in major, heavily defended missions — including operations over Regensburg, Ploiești, and Vienna — and suffered significant opposition from flak and interceptors.

On 23 August 1944, Lieutenant Samet’s aircraft was lost over Austria during the group’s operations; he was initially declared missing in action after the loss, and in 1945 the U.S. War Department later listed him as deceased (reported as “dead, non-battle” in the family papers summary). Records and unit histories link that date to heavy losses the 451st sustained over Austria that day.
Although his life and military career were brief, Lt. Samet’s service placed him among the thousands of airmen whose courage and sacrifice were essential to the Allied air campaign in 1944. Family papers and local memorials remember him both as a college student who left civilian life to serve and as an officer who gave his life while flying dangerous missions in the European Theater.

More information about Samet is available through the Duke University Libraries Archives and Manuscripts Collection.