John Stephen Ketzner
MilitaryKU-2795 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/147897029
Navigator John S. Ketzner flew 12.5 missions and was on board B-17 #42-31771 when it was shot down by enemy aircraft on 24 August 1944. Exploded and crashed near Lindenthal, NW of Leipzig, Germany. Missing Air Crew Report 8213. He was a Prisoner of War (POW) at Stalag Luft I in Barth, Germany, for 8.5 months.
Pilot: Steve Nagy; Co-pilot: John F. McTigue; Bombardier: Daniel P. Giove; Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Willard R. Best; Ball turret gunner: Wilbur A. Wulfeck; Waist gunner: Francesco G. Iadevaia; Tail gunner: Peter S. Cimino Jr; Radio Operator/Gunner George M. Demott. Five men were KIA (Nagy, McTigue, Giove, Best and Wulfeck). The others were made prisoner (Ketzner, Demott, Iadevaia and Cimino).
POW/ AM w/ Oak Leaf Cluster
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36478227
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 14128278
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32427602
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator / Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-765649
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 11031475
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Available - Exciteable
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 24 August 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland, United States | 11 May 1921 | |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Barth, Germany | 24 August 1944 - 1 June 1945 | NARA's WWII POW database has him as a POW in Germany (no camp listed) and as "Returned to Allied military control on 1/6/1945. An article in the Cumberland Evening Times of 26 May 1945 told about his parents having been advised of his liberation from Stalag Luft 1. |
Died |
24 September 2019 | ||
Enlisted |
Baltimore, Maryland, United States | 28 August 2042 | as a Private in the Air Corps |
Cumberland, Maryland, United States | |||
Buried |
Revisions
Updated his middle name & the Born event per Find-a-grave Memorial ID 203373970.
Added Died and Buried events per Find-a-grave Memorial ID 203373970.
SOURCE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/203373970/john-stephen-ketzner
Added an association to Stalag Luft 1 and updated POW event per info in the "Summary biography".
Put capitals at Private in the Air Corps, under Enlisted to "aid clarity & consistency"...
Added a "#" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
NARA WWII Enlistment records
NARA WWII POW database
Missing Air Crew Report - MACR 8213
Cumberland Evening Times of 26 May 1945 (mentioning he was at Stalag Luft 1)
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 8213 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / self