Robert was one of 5 children. Born in Duluth, Minnesota and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. His last mission involved the bombing of a train. He flew over the train once as a warning for passengers to evacuate. On the second flyover, he was shot down and crash landed in a field nearby. A local village family wrote of how grateful they were for his service and how he purposely missed their village while crash landing. He died on impact. He was 23 years old.

Assigned to 55FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) droopsnoot mission to Tours, France. Crashed near Valmeray in P-38J 42-67885, brought down by flak on 23-Apr-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 4124.

Awards: DFC, AM (3 OLC), PH.

Service

Events

Event	Location	Date
Born	Duluth, Minnesota	11 April 1921
Son of Robert W Sr and Ruth Mary [Prindiville] Ahern.
Lived in	Cincinnati, OH, USA	1940
Enlisted	Patterson Field, W 8th St, East Liverpool, OH 43920, USA	13 April 1942
Patterson Field, Fairfield, Ohio
Based	Wittering	27 August 1943 – 23 April 1944
Assigned to 55FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF.
Promoted	Wittering, Peterborough, Peterborough PE8, UK	1944
Promoted to 1st Lieutenant.
Killed in Action (KIA)	Valmeray, 14370 Moult, France	23 April 1944
Failed to Return (FTR) droopsnoot mission to Tours, France. Crashed near Valmeray in P-38J 42-67885, brought down by flak on 23-Apr-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 4124.
Buried	Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial	1946
Re-Interred Normandy American Cemetery Colleville-sur-Mer, France Plot B Row 23 Grave 33