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Personal info

Full name
BAUER, Herbert Richard
Date of birth
18 August 1922
Age
21
Place of birth
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Hometown
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois

Military service

Service number
16142338
Rank
Sergeant
Function
Assistant Radio Operator/Gunner
Unit
340th Bombardment Squadron,
97th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
19 July 1944
Place of death
Munich, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
B 18 25

Immediate family

Members
Emil R. Bauer (father)
Gertrude M. (Weisebach) Bauer (mother)
Walter C. Bauer (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-102918
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Idiot’s Delight
Destination: Munich, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the aircraft factory
MACR: 6688

More information

Sgt Herbert R. Bauer was a draftsman before he volunteered for the US Army in Chicago, Illinois on 29 October 1942.

S/Sgt Thomas B. Summers:

We had just dropped our bombs and closed the bomb-bay doors when I saw aircraft #918 in D box formation hit by flak in #2 engine. It started burning but the aircraft stayed in formation until we completed our turn off the target and out of the flak area. I saw seven chutes come out of the aircraft, and they all opened. Finally the tail broke off of the aircraft at the waist gun position and the aircraft started down. That is the last I could see of the aircraft.

T/Sgt Angelo J. Cirigliano:

He was slumped over the radio, appeared to have a big hole in chest and back.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1930 Census / Cook County Illinois Birth Certificates Index, www.fold3.com, www.findagrave.com – Russ Pickett, http://aircrewremembered.com/USAAFCombatOperations/Jul.44.html
Photo source: -