Robert Houston Bratton Jr
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Branch: Army Air Corps
UT Major/Affiliation: Agriculture - 1941-1942
Hometown: Hickman County, Tennessee
- Sept. 4, 1919 – Nov. 19, 1944
- Hickman County, Tennessee
- Agriculture – 1941-1942
- Entered service in Feb 1942
- Staff Sergeant – Army Air Corps
- 316th Fighter Sq, 324th Fighter Group. 12th Air Force. Accidentally killed in Lyon, France. Aircraft mechanic. Awarded the Bronze Star posthumously.
- Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in Lorraine, France
Robert Houston Bratton Jr. (Sept. 4, 1919 – Nov. 19, 1944) was born in Hickman County, Tennessee. He attended the University of Tennessee Junior College at Martin before transferring to UT at Knoxville for Agriculture from 1941 until he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in February 1942. Bratton was trained as an aircraft mechanic working on fighter plans under the rank of Staff Sergeant. He was deployed to the European Theater with the 316th Fighter Squadron, 324th Fighter Group in the 12th Air Force. Originally stationed in England, the 316th moved to continental France as the war progressed in late 1944. S/Sgt Bratton Jr was killed in the line of duty during a military accident in Lyon, France on November 12, 1944. He was awarded the Bronze Star posthumously and is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in Lorraine, France.
