Robert K. Marxmiller was born at San Francisco, California on May 1, 1922. His parents were Chester George Marxmiller (2 Dec 1890 – 20 Aug 1967), who was born at Newport, Campbell County, Kentucky; and Irma Mae (Smithley) Marxmiller (21 Jan 1890 – 22 Oct 1948), who was born at Mattoon, Coles County, Illinois. His parents married about 1920 and lived at San Francisco, California; they moved to Santa Barbara, California in 1933.
He had a twin brother, William David Marxmiller (1 May 1922 – 5 May 1953), who graduated from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, California, where he majored in animal husbandry. William was a firefighter in Santa Barbara County, California; he was killed in the line of duty while responding to a grass fire near Refugio, California in 1953.
Robert Marxmiller completed four years of high school and worked in a semiskilled occupation in the production of bakery products. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Los Angeles, California on May 12, 1942. His wartime home of record was his father's address at 10 Mission Park Drive, Santa Barbara, California.
He completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery and armament training, and was assigned as ball turret gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Robert G. Reeder in the 839th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. The Reeder crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. Reeder's copilot, 2/Lt Floyd Schwab, was moved to the first pilot position, and 2/Lt Norman C. Van Kirk was assigned as the crew's copilot at Herington, Kansas, the first stop during the overseas deployment. They flew B-24H 42-52624 overseas via the southern Atlantic ferry route and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.
On June 7, 1944, Lt Schwab's crew flew B-24H 42-52624 'BoxCar' on the 487th Bomb Group mission to bomb a tactical target at Angers, France, in support of the Normandy Invasion. Clouds obscured the target and the Lead Squadron bombed an alternate target, the Loire River bridge at Montjean, France, about 20 miles west of Angers. The Schwab crew flew in the High Squadron and bombed a railroad marshalling yard at Chateaubriant, France, about 50 miles northwest of Angers. S/Sgt Marxmiller and six of his crewmates were killed in action when their aircraft was shot down by flak near Rennes, France, on the return from the mission. The aircraft broke up and crashed at La Rabine, just west of Bruz, France. Three men survived and became prisoners of war.
The dead were buried at the civilian cemetery in Bruz, France. After the war, S/Sgt Marxmiller's remains were reinterred at Brittany American Cemetery in Saint-James, France.
The Breton Air Memorial Association and the Lacy-Davis Foundation dedicated a monument to the Floyd Schwab crew on June 9, 2012 in Bruz, France.
B-24H 42-52624 crew:
• Schwab, Floyd – 2/Lt – Pilot – POW
• Van Kirk, Norman C – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Swiridow, Louis – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Smith, Cecil J – 2/Lt – Bombardier – KIA
• Olsen, August M Jr – T/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Gross, Billy D – T/Sgt – Engineer – POW
• Marxmiller, Robert K – S/Sgt – Ball Turret – KIA
• Siegel, Melvin – S/Sgt – Tail Turret – POW
• Coe, Seymour – Sgt – Nose Turret – KIA
• Walker, Clarence E – S/Sgt – Upper Turret – KIA
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com