Kasch Wallace Edward

Name:

Wallace Edward Kasch

Rank:

Staff Sergeant

Serial Number:

35895845

Unit:

600th Bomber Squadron, 398th Bomber Group, Heavy

Date of Death:

1945-08-08

State:

Indiana

Cemetery:

Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten, Eijsden-Margraten Municipality, Limburg, Netherlands

Plot:

Tablets of the Missing

Row:

Grave:

Decoration:

Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart

Comments:

Wallace Edward Kasch was born on August 3, 1925, in Hobart, Lake County, Indiana. He was the son of Edward Lewis Kasch and Hulda Buhr Kasch. He enlisted in the service on September 30, 1943. He served in the 600th Bomber Squadron, 398th Bomb Group, Heavy, as a Staff Sergeant and a Tail Gunner of B-17 #44-8811 during World War II.

On April 8, 1945, B-17G 44-8811 was heavily damaged by flak during a bombing mission over Halberstadt, Germany, resulting in the loss of its tail section and the death of tail gunner SSgt Kasch. Despite the damage, pilots Lts. Dailey and Hahn skillfully used engine power to control the crippled aircraft and crash-landed safely at Nuthampstead, saving nine of the ten crew members.

SSgt Kasch was reported Missing in Action and officially declared dead on April 8, 1945. His name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten, Eijsden-Margraten Municipality, Limburg, Netherlands. Wallace E. Kasch's name is inscribed on the Anstey Window Memorial in Panel 2 (center), on Butterfly 14, in the bottom left wing (section C).

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