Missing information?

Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?

Submit

Personal info

Full name
SULZNER, Robert Lee
Date of birth
4 June 1916
Age
27
Place of birth
Wilkinsburg, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Hometown
Lauerdale, Berks County, Pennsylvania

Military service

Service number
O-812001
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Navigator
Unit
413th Bombardment Squadron,
96th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
22 March 1944
Place of death
Falkenhoehe, two miles northeast of Falkensee, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
B 13 13

Immediate family

Members
Herman W. Sulzner (father)
Olive P. (Lee) Sulzner (mother)
Betty R. (Butler) Sulzner (wife)

Plane data

Serial number
42-6099
Data
Type: B-17F
Destination: Oranienburg, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Heinkel Aviation Industry
MACR: 3420

More information

2nd Lt Robert Sulzner graduated from Abington High School in 1935 and attended college. He was an insurance clerk in civil life.

He joined the Artillery of the National Guard in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania on 13 January 1941.

He was married to Betty Ruth Butler in Westminster, England on 26 February 1944. She served as a WAC in the HQ of General Eisenhower.

The primary target was the Heinkel Aviation Industry at Oranienburg. Due to cloud cover, the secondary target, the city of Berlin, was attacked.

The aircraft was hit on the tail assembly by three bombs from an airplane of the High Squadron of the 96th. It was seen to go down out of control. Six parachutes were seen to open.

None of the crew members survived the crash.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, Kathy McDermott, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - Headstone Interment Record / Family Trees / Veteran Compensation Application File, www.fold3.com - MACR

Photo source: Jac Engels, www.ancestry.com - U.S. School Yearbooks - Abington High School 1935, Reading Eagle - 1 November 1944