Russell Alfred Kerkhan
Military
Aerial Gunner
340th BG - 488th BS - 12th AF
Object Number - UPL 55115 - SSGT Russell Alfred Kerkhan Aerial Gunner 340th BG - 488th BS - 12th AF
The missions listed in the bio were gleaned from mission records/load lists. The missions do not represent his complete combat mission record.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Advanced Landing Ground Alesanie
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Pittsburgh, PA | 15 May 1919 | |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 16 October 1940 | 814 Delmont Street | |
|
Enlisted |
Pittsburgh, PA | 15 July 1942 | |
|
Other Combat Mission |
Settimo, Italy | 23 August 1944 | 43-4025 |
|
Other Combat Mission |
Rattoneau, France | 24 August 1944 | 43-3990 |
|
Other Combat Mission |
Rattoneau, France | 24 August 1944 | 43-3990 2nd mission of the day to the same target |
|
Other Combat Mission |
Rattoneau, France | 27 August 1944 | 43-4025 |
|
Other Combat Mission |
Cittadella, Italy | 31 August 1944 | 43-27695 |
|
Other Combat Mission |
Santa Lucia, Italy | 9 September 1944 | 43-27669 |
|
Other Combat Mission |
Piacenza, Italy | 1 October 1944 | 43-27770 |
|
Other Combat Mission |
Magenta, Italy | 3 October 1944 | 43-27703 |
|
Other Combat Mission |
Casale Monferrato, Italy | 4 November 1944 | 43-27695 |
|
Other Combat Mission |
Trento, Italy | 6 November 1944 | 43-27537 |
|
Died |
Andover, Ohio | 10 August 1955 | Kerkhan and his entire family (wife, 13 year old son and 8 year old daughter) when a restuarant in Andover, OH exploded. e gruesome job of identifying charred bodies began today in a temporary morgue three blocks from the village square, where smoke still rose from an explosion and fire. Many of the dead and injured had sought shelter from a storm in a row of buildings which were leveled by the disaster. THere were 21 bodies accounted for, most of them in a make-shift morgue inside a garage, and at least two persons were reported missing. More than a score were injured. The center of the disaster was the Gateway Restaurant in this village in the resort area in North-eastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania border. The restaurant and a dairy store were in a 2-story frame building which disintegrated with a force that shook the whole town. It has a population of about 1,200. The task of learning the victims' names was complicated by the fact this village is on Ohio 6, used by tourists headed for Lake Erie as well as Lake Pymatuning. Some of them may have been eating in the restaurant at the time of the explosion. A Pittsburgh family of four was among those definitely listed. "The walls blew out and the roof fell in. There were arms and legs sticking out of the wreckage all over the building." No one was certain what caused the explosion. Firemen, however, speculated that accumulated gas was set off either by a bolt of lightning or a spark from electrical equipment in the basement, flooded by the heavy rains. |
|
Buried |
Pittsburgh, PA | 15 August 1955 | South Side Cemetery Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA PLOT Sec. P, Lot 8, Grave 4 |
Revisions
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
