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Personal info

Full name
SCHAEFER, Lee Andrew
Date of birth
2 January 1922
Age
22
Place of birth
Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio
Hometown
Butler County, Ohio

Military service

Service number
35670281
Rank
Sergeant
Function
Right Waist Gunner
Unit
579th Bombardment Squadron,
392nd Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
19 May 1944
Place of death
Near Hessen 21 miles northwest of Wernigerode, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
C 14 30

Immediate family

Members
Carl Schaefer (father)
Ruth C. (Donges) Schaefer (mother)

Plane data

Serial number
41-29474
Data
Type: B-24H
Destination: Brunswick, Germany
MACR: 4936

More information

A returning eye-witness account stated that this aircraft had come under attack by single enemy fighters, tad on and that 6 parachutes were seen immediately thereafter. No other details were given in this MACR concerning friendly force accounts about this aircrew. A German report #KU1834 did shed some light on the crew's fate following the fighters attacks: that this plane was shot down by a fighter near Hessen, 21 miles northwest of Wernigerode and that had exploded in mid-air.

Sgt Schaefer was first buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery of Margraten, The Netherlands.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Michel Beckers, Terry Hirsch, www.B24.net, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, WWII Draft Card

Photo source: www.findagrave.com, Michel Beckers/Tom Perry 392nd Bomb Group, www.findagrave.com - John Dowdy / b24.net