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Personal info

Full name
SLENKER, Kenneth Elwood
Date of birth
31 July 1924
Age
19
Place of birth
York, York County, Pennsylvania
Hometown
York, York County, Pennsylvania

Military service

Service number
13092093
Rank
Technical Sergeant
Function
Engineer/Top Turret Gunner
Unit
413th Bombardment Squadron,
96th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Finding of Death
Date of death
16 December 1943
Place of death
Off northern tip of Texel Island, The Netherlands

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Charles E. Slenker (father)
Helen M. (Ruth) Slenker (mother)
Charles A. Slenker (brother)
Richard A. Slenker (brother)
Donald E. Slenker (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-3249
Data
Type: B-17F
Destination: Bremen, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the port area
MACR: 1569

More information

T/Sgt Kenneth E. Slenker volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on 1 September 1942.

His brothers also served during the war.

The airplane was lost as the result of enemy aircraft attacks and was last seen near the Dutch coast. It is assumed the airplane crashed into the sea, north of Texel. All crew members are still missing in action and are all remembered at the Walls of the Missing at Margraten.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.fold3.com, www.ancestry.com - 1930/1940 Census / Poet-Bull Family Tree, The Gazette and Daily (York, Pennsylvania) - 10 February 1945 / Veteran Compensation Application File

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, The Gazette and Daily (York, Pennsylvania),
http://s46.photobucket.com/user/Sjam/media/ken2.jpg.html, http://s46.photobucket.com/user/Sjam/media/ken2.jpg.html,