Name and Rank, Lieutenant Colonel Earle Joseph Aber Jr.
Unit/Placed in, 406th Bomber Squadron, 305th Bomber Group (Heavy).
Joseph was approx. born on June 20, 1919 in Racine, Wisconsin.
Father, Earl Aber.
Mother, Alvina Aber.
Sisters, Georgia, Marjorie and Jean Aber.
Earle entered the service from Wisconsin with service number # O-437946.
Earle’s crewmembers and their positions onboard the B-17 were;
Lt.Col. Earle J. Aber Jr. Pilot
2nd Lt. Maurice J. Harper Co Pilot
Capt. Paul S. Stonerock Navigator
2nd Lt. Richard W. Billings Navigator
1st Lt. Connie R. Morton Bombardier
T/Sgt. Edward F. Valley Radar Operator
T/Sgt. Maurice Silber Engineer
S/Sgt. Stanley Dombrowski Ball Turret Gunner
S/Sgt. Ralph W. Ramsey Tail Gunner
S/Sgt. Fred W. Thomas Right Waist Gunner
S/Sgt. Joseph A. Trexler Left Waist Gunner
Earle was Killed by friendly fire, on March 4, 1945, and he is honored with a Silver Star Medal, Purple Heart, Air Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, WW II Victory Medal
Earle was first buried at Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton,
South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England.
After his remains were recoverd he was re-interred at Arlington National Cemetery,
Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA.
Earle also has a Memorial Grave at Graceland Cemetery,
Racine, Racine County, Wisconsin, USA.
Thanks to http://www.305thbombgroup.com/
Jean Louis Vijgen, ww2-Pacific.com and ww2-europe.com.
Air Force Info, Rolland Swank.
ABMC Website, https://abmc.gov
Marines Info, https://missingmarines.com/ Geoffrey Roecker
Seabees History Bob Smith https://seabeehf.org/
Navy Info, http://navylog.navymemorial.org
POW Info, http://www.mansell.com Dwight Rider and Wes injerd.
Philippine Info, http://www.philippine-scouts.org/ Robert Capistrano
National Historian
Navy Seal Memorial, http://www.navysealmemorials.com
Family Info, https://www.familysearch.org
Info, https://www.pacificwrecks.com/
Medals Info, https://www.honorstates.org
Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com
Tank Destroyers, http://www.bensavelkoul.nl/
WordPress en/of Wooncommerce oplossingen, https://www.siteklusjes.nl/
Military Recovery, https://www.dpaa.mil/
On March 4, 1945 a B17 piloted by Lt. Col. Earle J. Aber, Jr., crashed into the North Sea. While most of the crew bailed out, he and his co-pilot, 2nd Lt. Maurice J. Harper, both lost their life that day. A search after the crash only produced limited remains belonging to Aber. His family chose to have these recovered remains interred at Cambridge American Cemetery. In the late 1990s/early 2000s, further remains were recovered from the crash site. Some of the remains were positively identified as belonging to Aber, some were positively identified as belonging to Harper, and some could not be positively identified. The remains of Aber were added to his gravesite at Cambridge American Cemetery. The remains of Harper were buried in a private cemetery in the United States at the request of his family, and the comingled remains that could not be identified were interred together at Arlington National Cemetery.
