Peter Ihrie Jr.
Peter Ihrie Jr., son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Peter Ihrie of Rock Hill, S.C., was born on September 24, 1916 in Rock Hill, S.C. He graduated from Rock Hill High School in June 1933, and in September of the same year entered the School of Textiles at North Carolina State College, specializing in textile weaving and design. In his senior year, he was Editor of the yearbook, the "Agromeck".
Five or six months before his graduation in June 1937, Peter accepted a position with Burlington Mills, and he began his duties immediately following graduation. He was with Burlington Mills until March 27, 1942, when he entered active duty with the Infantry at Fort Benning Georgia. Later he transferred from the Infantry to take training as a navigator in the Air Force. His training took place at Mather Field, California. He was a First Lieutenant in the Infantry and retained the same rank when he transferred to aviation.
In the fall of 1943, Peter left on a B-24 Liberator Bomber for Italy, where he joined the 718th Bomb Squadron, 449th Bomb Group, of the 15th Air Force. On January 30, 1944, he departed on a mission from Grottaglie, Italy, to Udine, Italy, and it was on this mission that the plane on which he served as a navigator was shot down. He was first reported missing in action, but later it was announced that he was killed in action on January 30, 1944. He was buried in the United States Military Cemetery at Florence, Italy.
(Source: School of Textiles, North Carolina State College. 1954. The Dedication of the Textile School Library at North Carolina State College of the Consolidated University of North Carolina, Raleigh, May 28, 1954. NCSU Archives.)
Dedication
