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Personal info

Full name
GULBISH, Ernest Michael "Ernie"
Date of birth
7 December 1921
Age
22
Place of birth
Larksville, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
Hometown
Luzerne County, Pennsylvania

Military service

Service number
13100658
Rank
Technical Sergeant
Function
Right Waist Gunner
Unit
727th Bombardment Squadron,
451st Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
7 October 1944
Place of death
In the vicinity of Vienna, Austria

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
B 43 53

Immediate family

Members
Michael Gulbish (father)
Verna Gulbish (mother)
Mary Gulbish (sister)
Kathleen A. (Matelski) Gulbish (wife)

Plane data

Serial number
42-51409
Data
Type: B-24J
Destination: Vienna, Austria
Mission: Combat
MACR: 9024

More information

T/Sgt Ernest M. Gulbish was employed at the Shawnee Garment Factory in Plymouth.

He attended the Plymouth High School in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, class of 1939. When he entered the Air Corps on 4 August 1942. He received radio training at Sioux Falls, South Dakota and gunnery training at Yuma Gunnery School in Arizona.

Statement from Peter A. Massare, 1st Lt.:
"On 7 October 1944 I was flying as Pilot of a B-24 type aircraft in a formation attacking a target at Vienna, Austria. On the bombing-run, Aircraft No. 42-41409, with Lieutenant Robinett as Pilot, was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire. The hit seemed to be between #2 engine and the cockpit. The aircraft started to slide away, going down, out of sight. No parachutes were seen to open. The time was 1318."

S/Sgt Ford L. Moore, S/Sgt Samuel C. Johnson, T/Sgt Ernest M. Gulbish, S/Sgt Clifford J. Boque and Sgt Joseph N. Naranjo were killed in action.

Source of information: Astrid van Erp, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1930 Census, www.newspapers.com - The Wilkes-Barre Record

Photo source: Jac Engels, www.ancestry.com - Plymouth High School Yearbook 1939, www.newspapers.com - Wilkes-Barre Times Leader