Memorial

Biography

www.proviso.k12.il.us

More information

Henry A. Kaul graduated from Proviso High School.

He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on 31 January, and was commissioned at Jackson, Mississippi, on 15 March 1944.

A week before his death, he was honored with the commission of first lieutenant.

His aircraft crashed because it hit a tree while he was trying to drop his wing tanks on a truck.

Statement from 1st Lt Richard J. Corbett, Pilot:
"I was leading Becky Blue Section on a Ground Strafing Mission. After making three passes at different locomotives, I then led the section down on some trucks that had been spotted on a road. After the section had made a few passes, individual passes were made on the trucks. On one pass, I noticed that one of our aircraft had hit some trees and crashed. After a nearer view, I noticed that the parachute was lying partly open, about thirty feet to the side of the engine, which was the part of the aircraft farthest from where the aircraft just crashed into the ground. Lt Kaul, who had been flying number four position in Blue Section, was in the chute, and as far as I could see, he did not make any movement. The dinghy was also partly open.
The aircraft, after hitting the trees, crashed into the ground approximately fifty yards beyond; the engine being the farthest piece, about two hundred yards on further from the aircraft. The largest piece of the aircraft being the half of one wing. The section remained in the area about ten minutes after the crash without seeing any movement from Lt Kaul. No one actually saw Lt Kaul crash. The rest of the section saw the accident after it had taken place and were all of the opinion that there was very little possibility of Lt Kaul bailing out."

His biography can be found at www.proviso.k12.il.us.