Harold Edgar Oesch was born on February 5, 1918 in Bristol, Indiana. He was the son of William Winfield Oesch and Elva Alice Garber Oesch, and was married to Justine R. Menninger. He resided in Florida prior to the war. Harold served as a First Lieutenant & Pilot on B-17G "Heavenly Body" #43-38154, 836th Bomber Squadron, 487th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.
Harold was "Killed In Action" when his B-17 suffered from "prop wash turbulence" and collided with B-17G "Liberty Bell" #43-38037 right after dropping their bombs while on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Bielefeld, Germany and crashed. He is now buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.
B-17G 43-38154 crew:
• Oesch, Harold E – 1/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Furr, Wilburn E – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Miller Jr, Henry J – 1/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Zalneraitis, Vitold A – 1/Lt – Bombardier – POW
• Volavka, Melo – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Stanley, Martin E – T/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Graves, Hudie E – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – KIA
• Green, Willard A – S/Sgt – Tail Gunner – KIA
• Focht, William J – S/Sgt – Waist Gunner – KIA
Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov