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Personal info

Full name
HILSCHER, Louis Michel
Date of birth
1921
Age
unknown
Place of birth
Trentsin, China
Hometown
Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana

Military service

Service number
35372096
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Right Waist Gunner
Unit
511th Bombardment Squadron,
351st Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Missing in Action
Date of death
15 May 1943
Place of death
North Sea, near Borkum Isle, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Simon P. Hilscher (father)
Anastasia (Dracheva) Hilscher (mother)
Dorothea M. Hilscher (sister)
Henry F. Hilscher (brother)
Clarence Hilscher (half brother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-3173
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Spare Ball
Destination: Emden, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the railroad yards
MACR:15581

More information

Louis M. Hilscher arrived from Manilla in San Francisco on board the S.S. Thomas on 5 May 1923.

He attended Arsenal Technical High and was employed by the General Motors Corporation before he enlisted on 17 September 1942.

The airplane exploded in mid-air after it was hit by a bomb, dropped by another B-17 in the group. The entire crew of ten men was killed.

His father was a retired Master Sergeant and served 30 years in the army. He served in the Argonne offensive in France during WWI and three of his brothers were killed in France.

His half brother, Clarence Hilscher, was a member of the Marine Air Force and was killed in December 1942 during a raid on Guadalcanal.

Source of information: Terry Hirsch, Raf Dyckmans, www.abmc.gov, National Archives / www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - 1930/1940 Census / Family Tree (by Melanie Jones) / California, Passenger and Crew Lists, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.351st.org, www.newspapers.com - The Indianapolis Star

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, http://www.digitalindy.org - Indianapolis Marion County Library - Arsenal Technical School yearbook 1939, www.newspapers.com - The Indianapolis Star / The Indianapolis News