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Personal info

Full name
POLEVKA, Walter Peter
Date of birth
1 August 1922
Age
22
Place of birth
Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Hometown
Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio

Military service

Service number
35057495
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Nose Turret Gunner
Unit
567th Bombardment Squadron,
389th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
19 October 1944
Place of death
Bierstadt near Wiesbaden, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
E 9 11

Immediate family

Members
John Polevka (father)
Helen C. (Kopacz) Polevka (mother)
Raymond L. Polevka (brother)
Joan Polevka (sister)
Richard Polevka (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-50842
Data
Type: B-24J
Nickname: Betsy II
Destination: Mainz, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the city
MACR: 9482

More information

S/Sgt Walter P. Polevka graduated from West Technical High School and was a mechanic at Wright Field in Dayton before he enlisted in Cleveland, Ohio on 3 April 1943. He was sent overseas in July 1944.

1st Lt Eugene J. Coletti:
Just after target B-24 below us went into a spin. Two chutes came out followed by two more. Shortly after I saw this aircraft crash.

Polevka was wounded in the head and chest and later told me that he had two holes in his head and was sure to be dead. Going down in his chute behind the plane. Polevka was dead when he hit the ground.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov – Raymond Polevka (brother), www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / Noga Family Tree / 1940 Census, www.fold3.com – MACR, www.findagrave.com – John Dowdy, www.newspapers.com – The Cleveland Press - 16 October 1945

Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Marshall and Mary McIntyre / Hudson Louie, www.ancestry.com – U.S. School Yearbooks, www.newspapers.com – The Cleveland Press - 16 October 1945