Gaiser Joseph Richard

Name:

Joseph Richard Gaiser

Rank:

Technical Sergeant

Serial Number:

12216648

Unit:

602nd Bomber Squadron, 398th Bomb Group

Date of Death:

1944-12-30

State:

New York

Cemetery:

Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England

Plot:

Tablets of the Missing

Row:

Grave:

Decoration:

Air Medal with Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart

Comments:

Joseph Richard Gaiser was born on May 6, 1922, in Buffalo, Erie County, New York. He was the son of Jacob Joseph Gaiser and Wilhelmina E. Krehl Gaiser. He worked as an electrician before enlisting in the service on December 15, 1942. He served in the 602nd Bomber Squadron, 398th Bomb Group, as a Technical Sergeant and Radio Operator of B-17 #42-102610 nicknamed ''Boomerang'' during World War II.

On December 30, 1944, during a mission targeting Bischoffsheim, Germany, Boomerang failed to make the assembly and was seen trailing smoke before crashing into the English Channel off Beachy Head, UK. All nine crew members aboard were killed in action.

TSgt Gaiser was reported Missing in Action and officially declared dead on December 30, 1944. His name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England. Joseph R. Gaiser's name is inscribed on the Anstey Window Memorial in Panel 2 (center), on Butterfly 7, in the bottom left wing (section C).

Source of information: www.americanairmuseum.com, www.398th.org