William Herbert Ritzema
Military
Object Number - UPL 52347 - William H. "Bud" Ritzema
Assigned to 510BS, 351BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Bernburg in B-17 42-31612 22-Feb-44; shot down by flak, crew baled out and pilot made a wheels up landing near Aachen. Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 2657
Awards: AM, GC, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
Connections
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Units served with
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 351st Bomb Group 510th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13032466
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 351st Bomb Group 510th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 17057032 / O-690001
- Highest Rank: Major General
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 351st Bomb Group 510th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39271309 / O-688572
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 351st Bomb Group 510th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13155879
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
Aircraft
Places
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Greenville, Michigan, USA | 11 August 1918 | Son of James H and Lorene C [Huelster] Ritzema. |
|
Enlisted |
Kalamazoo, MI | 5 August 1941 | Kalamazoo, Michigan |
|
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Barth, Germany | 22 February 1944 | Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Luft I. |
|
Died |
Greenville, MI | 15 June 2005 | |
|
Buried |
Rest Haven Memory Gardens Belding, Ionia County, MI | 18 June 2005 | Rest Haven Memory Gardens Belding, Ionia County, Michigan, |
|
Based |
Polebrook | 22 February 1944 | Assigned to 510BS, 351BG, 8AF USAAF. |
Revisions
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 2657 / MACR 2657, Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database