Paul E. Eberhardt was born on March 11, 1916, in Olivet, Hutchinson County, South Dakota, to Helen and Emanual Eberhardt. Paul had six brothers and seven sisters. Paul attended Pleasant Hill Country School and then went on to attend Olivet High School in Olivet, South Dakota.

Paul was drafted by the army on May 7, 1942. He trained at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas; Las Vegas, Nevada; Sheppard Field, Texas; and Harvard, Nebraska, to become a Ball Turret Gunner on a B-17. He embarked in November 1943 with the 708th Bomber Squadron, 447th Bomber Group, Heavy.

On January 5, 1944, his crew took off from Station 126 airfield in Rattlesden, England, at 02:00H for a mission to bomb the Bordeaux-Merignac aerodrome. Hit by flak or an enemy aircraft, their plane crashed in the Arcachon Bay at the Port of Mole in Gujan-Mestras, France. The aircraft was partially evacuated by three members of the crew, who then survived. Those who were unable to leave the plane were killed in this incident, including SSgt Eberhardt.

SSgt Eberhardt is now buried in the Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial, France.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, francecrashes39-45.net