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Personal info

Full name
LINK, Jack Edward
Date of birth
16 January 1916
Age
28
Place of birth
Akron, Summith County, Ohio
Hometown
Akron, Summit County, Ohio

Military service

Service number
O-364458
Rank
Captain
Function
Pilot
Unit
339th Bombardment Squadron,
96th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
12 May 1944
Place of death
Hahnstätten, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
O 6 15

Immediate family

Members
Charles E. Link (father)
Nell (Cullen) Link (mother)
Mary K. Link (sister)
Thomas H. Link (brother)
Jeanette (Hopkins) Link (wife)
Joanne Link (daughter)

Plane data

Serial number
42-97167
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Brux, Czech Republic
Mission: Bombing of the Sudetenlandische-Treibstoffwerke A.G. - hydrogenation plant
MACR: 4858

More information

Capt Jack Link was a graduate of Buchtel High School and attended the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. He worked at the accounting department at City Hospital.

The airplane was shot down by enemy fighters. Before it crashed, it clipped a rooftop of a hous in the village of Hahnstätten and then plumetted into a hillside about 50 yards further. It burst into flames immediately. Attemps were made to save the crew but extreme heat prevented villagers from getting too close. Instead the villagers waited and, after the bodies were recovered, they were taken to a local churchyard and buried in a common grave. A white marble marker was placed at the gravesite with the numbers of the men, taken from their dog tags. The villagers took care of the grave very well and even placed flowers.

Nine crew members were killed. Only the navigator, Robert Rieckelman, survived and was taken prisoner.

On 5 March 1946, the remains were evacuated to Margraten.

Brux was a German city during the war. Now it is called Most and is situated in the Czech Republic.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Family Trees, www.newspapers.com - The Akron Beacon Journal, www.fold3.com - MACR

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.ancestry.com - University of Akron Yearbook 1937, www.newspapers.com - The Akron Beacon Journal