THE FLAGLER TRIBUNE
Bunnell, Florida
Thursday, August 3, 1944

LT. JOY DEEN IS REPORTED AS 'MISSING'

First Lieutenant JOY M. DEEN, B-26 pilot with the Ninth Air Force in England, has been reported as "missing in action." The War department notified his wife who lives in Miami and she wired his aunt, Mrs. C. O. Magee here Wednesday.

Lt. Deen entered the air force in November, 1941, and went to England last December. Since being with the Ninth Air Force there he was awarded the Air Medal, five Oak Leaf Clusters and two citations for accurate bombing of targets.

Lt. Deen was graduated from Bunnell high and Florida Southern College at Lakeland, and taught school in Dade county before entering the army.

THE FLAGLER TRIBUNE
Bunnell, Florida
Thursday, March 8, 1945

LT. JOY M. DEEN KILLED IN ACTION ON JULY 19, 1944

The Tribune has just learned that Lt. JOY M. DEEN, reported by the War Department as missing in action July 19, 1944, was killed in action on that date.

He was the grandson of J. E. Deen and the grandson of Mrs. C. E. Sisco of Bunnell. Mrs. Sisco gave the information to The Tribune. Lt. Deen's wife resides in Miami.

His wife, Martha, received from Maj. Gen. J. A. Ulio in Washington that "The report received from the German government through the International Red Cross contained only the fact that he died on July 19, 1944. Since it gives the date of his death as the same date he was previously reported missing in action, it has been officially recorded on the records of the War Department that he was killed in action on that date x x x "

Mrs. Deen also received a letter from General H. H. Arnold wherein Gen. Arnold said, in part: "As an officer he displayed outstanding diligence and resourcefulness, and the conscientious manner in which he performed assignments earned the respect and admiration of all who were associated with him."

In addition she also received a letter of condolence from President Roosevelt.

Lt. Deen was a graduate of Bunnell High School and Florida Southern College, and was teaching in the Dade county public school system prior to entering the army. He received his wings at Moody Field, Valdosta, Ga. in 1942 and was an .instructor at the army air field at Avon Park several months before going overseas in November, 1943.

In a letter to Mrs. Deen, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimpson said "You will shortly receive the Purple Heart Medal, which has been posthumously awarded by directions of the President to your husband x x x it is sent as a tangible expression of the country's gratitude for his gallantry and devotion x x x "

The official notification of Lt. Deen's, death stated that he was lost "over France." He was a bomber pilot and it is believed he was flying a B-26 at the time of his death.

THE FLAGLER TRIBUNE
Bunnell, Florida
Thursday, May 3, 1945

MEDALS AWARDED TO LT. JOY DEEN POSTHUMOUSLY

Public relations office of the Army Air Forces Redistribution Station No.2, Miami Beach, has sent The Tribune the following:

"The Air Medal with six Oak Leaf Clusters has been awarded posthumously to 1st Lt. JOY M. DEEN, 26, a native of Bunnell, who lost his life when his medium bomber was shot down by flak over Nantes, France, July 19,1944.

His widow, Mrs. Martha J. Deen, of South Miami, accepted the decoration from Lt. Col. Louis D. Cooper, commanding officer of Redistribution Station No.2.

Lt. Deen, a B-26 Marauder pilot, was a veteran of 35 missions from England when he went down. He was born in Bunnell, graduated from Southern college, Lakeland, and taught school in Perrine before joining the AAF in 1941. He went overseas in January, 1944.

Mrs. Deen lives with her parents in South Miami."