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Personal info

Full name
SCHOEN, Frank Julius
Date of birth
4 February 1918
Age
26
Place of birth
Dodge City, Ford County, Kansas
Hometown
Dodge City, Ford County, Kansas

Military service

Service number
37722294
Rank
Private First Class
Function
Tail Gunner
Unit
825th Bombardment Squadron,
484th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
20 August 1944
Place of death
Near Szolnok, Hungary

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
E 6 5

Immediate family

Members
Frank M. Schoen (father)
Ella A. (Knoefler) Schoen (mother)
Louise E. Schoen (sister)
Alfreda E. Schoen (sister)
Eva M. Schoen (sister)
Carl F. Schoen (brother)
Ida F. Schoen (sister)
Irene D. Schoen (sister)
George E. Schoen (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-52438
Data
Type: B-24H
Nickname: Damned Yankee
Destination: Szolnok, Hungary
Mission: Bombing of the airfield
MACR: 7687

More information

Pfc Frank J. Schoen enlisted at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas on 16 September 1943.

Capt George F. Coleman Jr.:

"I believe the airplane was hit by fragmentation bombs released from a higher element in the same bombing formation."

2nd Lt Thaddeus H. Walker:

"Pfc Schoen was at his battle station in the tail turret when the ship was severed by an explosion. The tail descended in a flat spin, and he was either unable to reach his chute or was unable to extricate himself from his turret. It is believed he was killed in the ensuing crash."

He is remembered at the Cemetery in Dodge City, Ford County, Kansas.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / Gately Family Tree, www.fold3.com
Photo source: www.ancestry.com - Lee Gately