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Personal info

Full name
HILTUNEN, Ray Jacob
Date of birth
20 December 1914
Age
29
Place of birth
Vermilion Lake Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota
Hometown
Hennepin County, Minnesota

Military service

Service number
O1103214
Rank
First Lieutenant
Function
Co-Pilot
Unit
B Company,
326th Airborne Engineer Battalion,
101st Airborne Division
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
18 September 1944
Place of death
Oisterwijk, Holland

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
K 6 16

Immediate family

Members
Peter Hiltunen (father)
Hilja S. (Lempia) Hiltunen (mother)
Vicgtor T. Hiltunen (brother)
Leo P. Hiltunen (brother)
Arvid M. Hiltunen (brother)
Mabel Hiltunen (sister)
George R. Hiltunen (brother)
Elizabeth M. Hiltunen (sister)
John T. Hiltunen (brother)
Ingrid S. (Kainula) Hiltunen (wife)

More information

Aboard of a Waco Glider loaded with jeeps and while approaching the landing zone, enemy ground fire shot off the left wing and it crashed in the vicinity of Oisterwijk, The Netherlands.

The entire crew was killed and initially buried at the cemetery of the St. Petrus Banden in Oisterwijk.

Source of information: Astrid van Erp, WWIIMemorial.com, Fold3.com, Oisterwijk-marketgarden.com, www.ancestry.com

Photo source: Oisterwijk-marketgarden.com, www.ancestry.com