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name
KOEHN, George J - Date of
birth
4 October 1918 -
Age
25 - Place of
birth
Green Bay, Brown County, Wisconsin -
Hometown
Green Bay, Brown County, Wisconsin
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-699679 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Pilot -
Unit
752nd Bombardment Squadron,
458th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
24 September 1944 - Place of
death
North Sea near the Dutch Coast
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
William F. Koehn (father)
Alma I. Koehn (mother)
Raymond Koehn (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-52348 -
Data
Type: B-24H
Nickname: Lady Shamrock
Destination: St. Dizier, France
Mission: Fuel transport
MACR: 9574
More information
2nd Lt Koehn graduated from West High School in 1936. He attended the University of Wisconsin and joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve in Madison, Wisconsin on 2 September 1942.The plane was fired upon and was still over the Netherlands when it blew up and crashed close enough to the Dutch coast for the wreckage to have been found by the Dutch Coast Guard.
Six crew members were killed and their remains were never recovered. Only one crew member, Billie Hudson survived.
Five crew members are remembered on the Walls of the Missing of Margraten: James A. Soesbe, Harold Coburn, George J. Koehn, John R. Tucker and Merlin T. Ash.
Anthony J. Corlito is remembered on the Walls of the Missing at Cambridge Cemetery.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.ancestry.com - Headstone Applications, www.newspapers.com - Green Bay Press-Gazette
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Darin Scorza - www.458bg.com Ralph Peeters, Wisconsin State Journal - 3 November 1944, Arie-Jan van Hees - Pilot Class Book 43-K Pampa Field Texas