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Personal info

Full name
HEPLER, Donald Blane
Date of birth
30 July 1923
Age
19
Place of birth
Redbank Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania
Hometown
Armstrong County, Pennsylvania

Military service

Service number
13037870
Rank
Technical Sergeant
Function
Radio Operator
Unit
368th Bombardment Squadron,
306th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters

Death

Status
Finding of Death
Date of death
17 April 1943
Place of death
North Sea, north of Bremen, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Harry E. Hepler (father)
Laura E. (Mohney) Hepler (mother)
Dorthea Hepler (sister)
Roby Hepler (sister)
Clair E. Hepler (brother)
Mary A. Hepler (sister)
Arnold W. Hepler (twin brother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-3034
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Bodacious Critter
Destination: Bremen, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Focke Wulf aviation industry plant
MACR: 15518

More information

T/Sgt Donald B. Hepler worked on a farm.

He joined the Air Corps of the Regular Army in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 22 August 1941.

The aircraft is believed to have turned back toward the enemy coast at 54 deg 10 min N - 06 deg 40 min E, and is believed to have crashed into the sea.

The entire crew of 10 was killed. Nine are remembered on the Walls of the Missing at Margraten, one, William R. Payne, is remembered on the Walls of the Missing at Cambridge.

His twin-brother Arnold (on the left of the first picture) was a gunner on board of a B-24 (N° 42-78235) that was shot down during a raid on the Ploesti oil fields in Rumania on 5 May 1944. He survived and was taken prisoner and was liberated in September 1944.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.fold3.com, www.ancestry.com - Veteran Compensation Application File, 1920 Census

Photo source: Peter Schouteten