John Atwood LaMar was born on January 23, 1920, in St. Louis, Missouri to Atwood and Zoe LaMar. He was raised in St. Joseph, Missouri and graduated from Christian Brothers High School. He was married to Norma A. Sheridan and they had one son, John Philip. He attended college for one year and was a salesman before he joined the Army.

John volunteered for the Army Air Corps at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He entered the service on April 17, 1942 as a private. He was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and served as a bombardier on the B-24 Liberator bomber.

As a member of the 701 Bomber Squadron, 445th Bomber Group, Heavy, John flew missions over Germany aboard a B-24 nicknamed the Sky Wolf. On February 20, 1944, the Sky Wolf, piloted by 1st Lt. Stanley Neal, took off from Tibenham, England on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany. In route to the bombing target, the Sky Wolf was shot down by a German fighter plane. A witness aboard an accompanying aircraft, 2nd Lt. George C. Sfarnas, reported, “I saw an enemy fighter go after Lt. Neal’s ship and a few minutes later Isaw the ship burst into flames.”

John and the crew of the Sky Wolf were initially reported as missing in action over Belgium. However, John’s mother subsequently received a telegram confirming that John was killed in action when the Sky Wolf was shot down. He was 24 years old.

The entire crew was killed and initially interred in a common grave in the northeast corner of the cemetery of Edemissen, Germany on February 22, 1944.

After the war, John’s body was transferred to the Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial in Belgium. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.

John was survived by his mother, his wife, and three-year-old son.