Louis Donald Vehslage
Military
STANDING LEFT TO RIGHT: Vernon Gilbertson - TG, Ralph Chavkin - BTG, Edward Wilk - NTG, Paul Peters - WG, Ellsworth Shields - RO, Carl Kressin - E
KNEELING LEFT TO RIGHT: Roger Williams - N, Matthew Dorfman - B, Louis Vehslage - P, Lyall Barnhart - CP (to become Pilot in Jan. 1945. ) Charles D Taylor collection
AAM
Object Number - UPL 33185 - First Lieutenant Ellsworth H. Shields and his crew at 458th BG, Horsham St Faith, England. STANDING LEFT TO RIGHT: Vernon Gilbertson - TG, Ralph...
Assigned to 752BS, 458BG, 8AF USAAF. ETD
Awards: DFC, AM, PH, WWII Victory, EAME.
"On 28th January 1945, the crew took off on their 23rd mission in heavy snow flurries to bomb a coking plant four miles northeast of Dortmund, Germany. Over the target flak burst directly beneath the nose of their B-24 damaging electrical, hydraulic, and auto pilot systems and shattering Plexiglas in the nose. Vehslage was hit in the neck by fragments that came through the cockpit and an artery was cut. He elected to stay with the formation and the crew dropped their bombs on target with the rest of the group. After turning from the target the crew made it as far as the Belgian/French border where they made a crash landing."
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 25th Bomb Group 458th Bomb Group 653rd Bomb Squadron 752nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-771615
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot / Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 752nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32802729
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 752nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-773314
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 752nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 06919132
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Flight Engineer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 752nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36818272
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
Aircraft
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Seymour, IN | 29 May 1922 | Son of Earl Vehslage. |
|
Enlisted |
Washington, DC | 1 September 1942 | Washington, District Of Columbia |
|
Died |
8 April 2013 | ||
|
Buried |
30 May 2013 | Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, Virginia | |
|
Based |
Horsham St Faith | Assigned to 752BS, 458BG, 8AF USAAF. |
Revisions
https://www.fold3.com/image/668100170
https://www.fold3.com/image/538189617
https://www.fold3.com/record/618124752/louis-d-vehslage-social-security…
https://www.fold3.com/record/83785933/louis-d-vehslage-wwii-army-enlist…
https://www.458bg.com/crewbj129vehslage.htm
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/111543497/louis-donald-vehslage
458thbg.com / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia