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name
LANG, Kenneth W - Date of
birth
16 April 1918 -
Age
26 - Place of
birth
Bronx, Bronx County, New York -
Hometown
The Bronx, Bronx County, New York
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-672133 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Pilot -
Unit
838th Bombardment Squadron,
487th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
24 December 1944 - Place of
death
Spa-Sprimont, Belgium
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| C | 7 | 4 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Rudolph C. Lang (father)
Norm (Tallman) Lang (mother)
Cora (Smith) Lang (wife)
Plane data
- Serial
number
44-8192 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Babenhausen, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the airfield
MACR: 11258
Name: Lindy Luo
More information
Kenneth Lang graduated from DeWitt High School and attended Fordham University where he graduated in 1941. He worked in an occupation related to packing, filling, or bottling.He enlisted at Camp Upton on 6 August 1941.
He was married to Cora Smith on 13 May 1944.
After training, he and his crew arrived in England at the end of October 1944.
The airplane was attacked at 1215 hours about 5 miles southeast of Liege, Belgium at an altitude of approximately 22,000 feet. After 4 or 5 seemingly random attacks about 7 ME 109´s made a front quarter attack from about 2 o'clock, slightly high of level. In this attack the nose and flight deck were considerably shot up. About 40 enemy aircraft (ME109) had formed on the tail of the formation. During their attack, made in single file on our formation, the plane was on fire and the bail out order was given. Four parachutes from the airplane were seen and very shortly after the last parachute was seen to open the plane exploded.
Five crew members bailed out and landed between Spa and Sprimont, Belgium where they were picked up by American forces. Four men were killed by enemy gunfire in the airplane.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, WWIIMemorial.com, Fold3.com, Ancestry.com, MACR, 1930 Census
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Des Philippet / Paul Webber, Arie-Jan van Hees - Pilot 43-B Ellington Fd Texas