Vincent August Fonke

Military

Assigned to 324BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. 11 x missions. Shot down 16-Aug-44 in B-17 43-38012 while serving as Pilot. Aircraft shot down by fighters and crashed at Witzenhausen, Germany. Prisoner of War (POW)



Awards: DFC, AM, BS, POW, EAME, WWII Victory

Post war: Served in USAF, spanning Korea, and Vietnam conflicts. During the Korean conflict Col. Fonke was pilot of the B-36 long range bomber while assigned to the Strategic Air Command. He received the Bronze Star for heroic action and valour in Vietnam. Col. Fonke served three separate tours in Vietnam. He retired in 1970.

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

Unofficial emblem of the 91st Bomb Group.

91st Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

43-38012

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 91st Bomb Group 324th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Dulag Luft 12

  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Dulag Luft Grosstychow Dulag 12

Stalag Luft III

  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany

Stalag VII-A

  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag 7a, Moosburg

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Breese, Illinois 13 September 1921

Prisoner of war

Prisoner of War (POW)

Mooseberg, Germany 16 August 1944 - 1 June 1945 Held at Stalag 7A, Moosburg, Bavaria. Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 1-Jun-45.

Died

16 November 2011

Buried

Lafayette Memorial Park Fayetteville, North Carolina 19 November 2011 Interred Lafayette Memorial Park Fayetteville, North Carolina

Revisions

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Sources

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80702296/vincent-august-fonke

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Sources

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80702296/vincent-august-fonke

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added an association to Stalag Luft 7A per WW2 POW records at the National Archives (NARA).

Date
Contributorstevefonke
Changes
Sources

Information added by his son, Steve Fonke.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 17-Dec-2014. Added SN per MACR 8180, Added camp and map location to POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII Database; made connections to Place, Aircraft and Mission within existing website data; crafted biography per "Losses of the 8th & 9th AIr Forces" Stan Bishop & john A Hey MBE.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 8180 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database