George A. Austermuhl was born on August 3, 1917.

In the fall of 1944, Sergeant George A. Austermuhl, was a gunner on B-24 Liberator bombers, stationed at Yang Chiseh Airfield, Yangkai, China, and assigned to the 373rd Bombardment Squadron of the 308th Bombardment Group.

On October 3rd, he was aboard a B-24J, 44-40667, when it departed Ehr Tong Airfield, Kweilin (now Guilin), China, for a night search for enemy shipping in the South China Sea of the coasts of Indo-China (now Vietnam) and China. They had been airborne nine hours, 25 minutes, at 0300 hours the morning of the 4th, had completed their mission and were returning to base with one engine dead and low on fuel. They were already at a lower altitude when two more engines began surging and the pilot ordered the crew to bail out. Seven of ten crew members successfully bailed out, with no or with minor injuries. Sgt. Austermuhl was one of the three men who were killed in bailing out or in the crash of the plane.

George is now buried in the Bethel Memorial Park, Pennsauken, Camden County, New Jersey, USA. He was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com