Stewart Welton Schoch was the second son of Pennsylvania natives, Paul Edward Schoch, a chauffeur, and Gertrude Lydia (Stewart) Schoch. Stewart was single when he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps on 19 Apr 1943. He served as the Waist Gunner on the B-17G "Miss Lace," 44-6140, which encountered heavy flak over the target, the Brabag Synthetic Oil Plant just northeast of Zeitz, Germany, on 30 Nov 1944. After a close flak explosion, the plane lost its right wing, went into a steep dive, was ablaze, and broke into two sections: the tail/waist section, which landed near the town limits of Threna, Germany and the nose section, which crashed into District 7 of the Oberholz Forest near Großpösna, Germany. Schoch's ID tag and remains were recovered at the tail/waist section crash site near Threna and buried in an individual grave in that village's cemetery.



In late June 1945, the US Army exhumed his remains, established his identity from military dental records and his military identification tag, and re-interred the remains in the Lorraine American Cemetery, St Avold de la Moselle, France. His family placed a commemorative headstone for him at the Troutville United Church of Christ Cemetery, Troutville, PA.