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name
RUTKOWSKI, Victor S - Date of
birth
31 December 1918 -
Age
26 - Place of
birth
Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey -
Hometown
Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-819619 -
Rank
First Lieutenant -
Function
Co-Pilot -
Unit
569th Bombardment Squadron,
390th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Distinguished Flying Cross,
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters
Death
-
Status
Finding of Death - Date of
death
16 October 1945 - Place of
death
unknown
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Tadeusz Rutkowski (father)
Helen (Tykarski) Rutkowski (mother)
Tadeusz Rutkowski (brother)
Edward Rutkowski (brother)
Irene Rutkowski (sister)
Richard S. Rutkowski (brother)
Elsie V. Rutkowski (wife)
Plane data
- Serial
number
43-37513 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Anna
Destination: Cologne, Germany
Mission: Bombing
MACR: 9483
More information
1st Lt Victor S. Rutkowski was employed at the Essex Rubber Co.He enlisted at Nashville AC Facilities, Tennessee, on 1 March 1943.
A/C 513 was hit by flak on the bomb run. Pilot feathered #4 wing and the right wing was on fire. Seven crew members bailed out at approximately 5055N-0655E. Pilot regained control of the ship and was able to land at A-92, a P47 landing strip in Belgium, with the tail gunner who had been killed by flak. Surviving crew member reports indicate that 1st Lt Rutkowski was among the seven men that bailed out safely. The reports also indicate that, according to a German interrogator, one of the officers of A/C 513 had been killed by civilians.
Lt Rutkowski was officially declared dead one day and one year after he was reported missing in action.
Source of information: Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - Patera Family Tree
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.findagrave.com - Patootie