Julius Heitler
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
Family pictures
Object Number - UPL 39563 - Julius on leave at home in 1944.
Assigned to 566BS, 389BG, 8AF USAAF. Fatal mid-air collision with B-24 44-10513 during formation assembly near Carleton Rode, 21-Nov-44. Killed in Action (KIA)
It was known in the family that Julius enlisted when he was 17, needing his parents' permission to do so. Three months before his death, he wrote to his sister Sylvia: "I’ve started flying but as yet I haven’t told Mom & Pop. Please don’t tell them until I want them to know, and that will be when I stop flying. Don’t let Mom wrangle it out of you and don’t let it slip out accidently, since I don’t want Mom & Pop to worry unnecessarily, and it is unnecessary." A military buddy of Julius, hearing of his death, wrote Sylvia: "Julie wasn’t famous or important in the eyes of other people, but to you he will be an idol who was willing to give his life so that there will be no race prejudice, class distinction, or be denied the right of free worship for the pursuit of one’s happiness —."
Awards: AM (OLC), PH.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
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: 389th Bomb Group 566th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 19162410 / O-710437
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 566th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 34872055
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 566th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-?
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 566th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36814876
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 566th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 34021953
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Gunner
Aircraft
Missions
- Date: 21 November 1944
Places
- Site type: Cemetery
- Known as: Cambridge American Military Cemetery
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Died |
Carleton Rode, Norfolk | 21 November 1944 | Fatal mid-air collision with B-24 44-10513 during formation assembly near Carleton Rode, 21-Nov-44. Killed in Action (KIA) |
|
Buried |
22 November 1944 | Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial Coton, Cambs, UK Plot: Plot E Row 5 Grave 95 | |
|
Born |
Brooklyn, NY | Son of Paul and Esther Heitler. | |
|
Enlisted |
New York City, NY | Someone wrote enlisted date as Sept 21, 1943, but he wrote home several times from military training in March and April 1943. | |
|
Based |
Hethel | 21 November 1944 | Assigned to 566BS, 389BG, 8AF USAAF. His letter of Aug. 8, 1944, says he had gotten his permanent assignment (with the 389BS, 566BS) by this time. |
Revisions
The name the family used in letters to him that I have in my possession.
Found a trove a his letters, from which I'm updating the information that was on the site placed by someone else.
Family picture of Julius and burial marker in military cemetery in Cambridge.
Letters returned to the family after Julius's death in active service.
Combat Supplement, 389th website / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia
