Capt. Andrew Maples Jr., Tuskegee Airman

JJ-34

Andrew Maples grew up in Orange and completed the Civilian Pilot Training Program at Hampton Institute in 1941. He graduated from the Advanced Flying School at the Tuskegee Army Air Field on 14 Jan. 1943, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps, and deployed to Italy with the 301st Fighter Squadron. On 26 June 1944, Maples's plane went down over the Adriatic Sea during a bomber escort mission. While officially missing in action, he was promoted to captain and awarded the Air Medal. The Army declared him dead in June 1945 and posthumously awarded him the Purple Heart. His name appears on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial in Italy.

Department of Historic Resources, 2016

See a problem? Report it to HighwayMarkers@dhr.virginia.gov.

DHR could use your help! We don't have a recent image of this marker. If you have one that you'd like to submit for inclusion on this site, please send it to HighwayMarkers@dhr.virginia.gov.

References/Bibliographic Citation:

“Capt. Andrew Maples Jr. Bails from Plane, Disappears,” stltoday.com (2012) Charles E. Francis, The Tuskegee Airmen: The Men Who Changed a Nation (Boston: Branden Publishing Co., 2002). Information provided by Doris M. Walker, sister of Andrew Maples Maj. Gen. J.A. Ulio to Mr. and Mrs. Maples, 27 June 1945. Orange Review, 11 Feb. 1943. New Journal and Guide, 26 July 1941, 9 May 1942, 23 Jan., 21 Aug., 13 Nov. 1943, 24 March 1945 U.S. Army World War II Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, Familysearch.org