Sergeant Omer A. Duquette

Hero from the valley.

Omer A. Duquette was born on 25 January 1915 in Natick, West Warwick, Rhode Island as son of Sylva Duquette and Philomene Collard Duquette. His brothers Alden, Roland, Normand and his sisters Claire and Florence were younger then him. He had one older brother named Sylvio.

FYI - In 1913, West Warwick split from Warwick and became its own town.  It the youngest town in the state of Rhode Island. 

When Omer Ququete was younger he played football and baseball with his cousins,  George and Robert Acrand. He was also into boxing. He hang around at his uncle's (Oscar Acrand) former garage where he now and then smoked a cigarette. With local boys he went swimming on regular base in a deep swimming hole in Jackson near West Warwick.

Omer Duquette was a former pupil of the Notre Dame Du Bon Conseil School. He was a quiet boy, eager to learn. Omer was a brave kid. When it came to follow the leader in and around Phenix and Harris, he was there, four jumps ahead of the remainder of his pals.

His father died in 1936 and his mother during 1939.

After bailing out the plane above China, Omer Duquette broke his foot. A friendly Chinese helped him to find his crewmembers and took care of him. On 19 April, a day later, he and the crew joined up with Crew 10. 

Later they joined up with other crews and finally arrived safely in Chungqing after being about a week in Chukow. They travelled to Chungqing by bus, boat, airplane and train. A releive after hiding in caves, bunkers and forest as Japanese troops were searching for them.

In the groups picture below taken in China, April 1942,  you see Omer Duquette (green). You notice in the picture his injured foot. Which was broken as said after bailing out about 10 days before the picture was taken.

Omer Duquette stayed in the Pacific War theatre after the Doolittle Raid and he was transferred into the 341st Bombardment Group, Medium based at Karachi, India. He was returning from a mission over (Lashio) Burma when his plane crashed into a mountain on 3 June 1942 just six weeks after the Tokyo/Doolittle raid. They withdrew direction Kumnin, China. His plane and two other planes crashed into a mountain.

His remains were never recovered. Omer Duquette is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in Taquig City, Philippines. There is also a remembrance stone for him in the town of West Warwick, Rhode Island. His birth place.
Duquette (Crew 12), Gardner (Crew 11) and McCurl (Crew 05) died on the same day in the same accident on the same spot.

The remembrance stone was unveiled in West Warwick, Rhode Island on the Phenix Square on 26 September 1943 in attendence of James Doolittle. With this event came a booklet full of information about Omer Duquette. I published the booklet on this website - click here -

Omer Duquette was inducted in the Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame on 16 November 2007.

There was an Omer Duquette Amvets post (nr 6) of the Amvets department of Rhode Island- Incorporation Date: 14 June 1995 - Dissolution Date: 5 September 2001.

I'm looking for a picture of the Notre Dame du Bon Conseil School in those days. I'm looking for a picture of his uncle's (Oscar) Acrand garage and a picture of the swimming hole in Jackson near West Warwick during those days.

If someone has more info and pictures on Omer A. Duquette's profile, please contact me at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.