Staff Sergeant Jearold F. Rosenberger, Army serial number 36740528, was born at Kankakee, Kankakee County, Illinois on October 9, 1923. His birth name is Jearld Francis Rosenberger (first name the same as his father), but his first name was changed to Jearold in military records.
His parents were Jearld John Rosenberger (6 Aug 1898 – 16 Nov 1989), who was born at Pinckneyville, Perry County, Illinois; and Stella Mary (Seibert) Rosenberger (22 Aug 1902 – 6 May 1978), who was born at Kankakee, Illinois. In 1918 his father lived in Pinckneyville and worked for the Illinois Central Railroad. By 1920 his father lived in Kankakee and worked in a furniture factory, where he was a cabinet maker and later a shipping clerk. His parents married at Kankakee on January 10, 1923. By 1930 the family home was at 942 North Schuyler Avenue in Kankakee. He had a brother, Gordon L. Rosenberger (abt 1939 – ).
He attended Kankakee High School, where he participated in the Latin, Science, and Press clubs, and was a photographer for the school's Kankakeean yearbook. He graduated from Kankakee High School in 1942, and registered for the draft at Kankakee on June 29, 1942. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighed 130 pounds, and had brown eyes and brown hair. At that time he lived with his parents and was employed by Alpiner & Son Cigar Store at 222 S. East Avenue in Kankakee.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army by Fall 1942, and completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery and armorer training. In Fall 1943 he attended a football game at Kankakee High School. In the 1944 Kankakeean yearbook, there is a photo of him in uniform sitting with a group of spectators at the game. It shows him sitting next to a young woman named Roberta Yocom, who appears to be his date.
He was assigned as ball turret gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Thomas Womer. In December 1943 the Womer crew began B-24 crew training at Davis-Monthan Field in Tucson, Arizona. In January 1944 the Womer crew was assigned to the 838th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group (Heavy), at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. There they completed B-24 crew training and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 42-52662 from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lavenham, England via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—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.
After arrival at Station 137, Sgt Rosenberger and four of his original crewmates (Musser, Boyd, Lumpkin, and Kussy) were reassigned to the crew of Lt Arthur D. Erwin in the 838th Bomb Squadron. Here is Lt Erwin's crew roster on June 20, 1944:
B-24H 42-95217 – 838th Bomb Squadron
• Erwin, Arthur D – 2/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Mass, Rubie R – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Mackie, Thomas S – 2/Lt – Bombardier – KIA
• Musser, Elmer G – S/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Boyd, Leslie L – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Lumpkin, Claude L – S/Sgt – Nose Turret Gunner – KIA
• Kussy Jr, Leroy S – Sgt – Top Turret Gunner – KIA
• Rosenberger, Jearold F – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – KIA
• Ross, Albert L – S/Sgt – Tail Turret Gunner – POW
S/Sgt Rosenberger and seven of his crewmates were killed in action on June 20, 1944 when their aircraft, B-24H 42-95217, was shot down by flak on the mission to bomb an oil refinery at Misburg near Hannover, Germany. Just after bombs away, the aircraft received a direct flak hit which tore off the tail. The aircraft spun to the ground in flames and crashed five kilometers north of Hannover. The bodies of eight crew members were found in the wreckage. The dead were buried initially at the military cemetery in Hannover-Limmer. S/Sgt Ross, the tail gunner, was able to bail out and landed at Mecklenheide near Hannover. He was captured there and became a prisoner of war.
After the war, S/Sgt Rosenberger's remains were permanently reinterred at Ardennes American Cemetery, Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium in Plot A, Row 23, Grave 20. He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
His crewmate S/Sgt Albert Louis Ross survived captivity and returned to Chico, Butte County, California after the war. He was lost at sea in 1979 while working as a commercial fisherman off the Mendocino coast near Fort Bragg, Mendocino County, California.
Sources:
1. 487th Bomb Group Association
2. 1920 US Census; Illinois; Kankakee County; Kankakee City. Rosenberger, Otto. 21 Jan 1920 (Jearld J. Rosenberger, his father, in the household of Otto Rosenberger, his father's brother)
3. 1930 US Census; Illinois; Kankakee County; Kankakee Township; Kankakee City. Rosenberger, John J [sic]. 30 Apr 1930 (Jearld John Rosenberger, his father)
4. 1940 US Census; Illinois; Kankakee County; Kankakee Township; Kankakee City. Rosenberger, Jearld. 9 Apr 1940 (his father)
5. American Battle Monuments Commission
6. Daily Journal. Alpiner's local icon has been here since the 1880s. Kankakee IL, 1 Jul 2017 (article about Alpiner & Son Cigar Store, Kankakee, Illinois)
7. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004
8. HQ, 359th Combat Crew Training School, Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. Special Orders Number 71. 11 Mar 1944 (487th Bomb Group flight echelon order to proceed from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Herington, Kansas during the deployment to England)
9. HQ, Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona. Special Orders Number 1. 1 Jan 1944 (transfer of fifty heavy bomber combat crews, less navigators, from Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona to the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico)
10. Hutchings, Faith. Rosenberger Genealogy. 29 Jan 2000
11. Illlinois, County Marriages, 1810–1934: Jerald J. Rosenbeger [sic], age 24, married Stella Mary Seibert, age 21, at Kankakee, Illinois on 10 Jan 1923 (his parents)
12. Rosenberger, Gordon L. Personal Communication. 15 Jun 2016 (his brother)
13. Social Security Death Index
14. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 5935
15. U.S. Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942–1949 (ancestry.com)
16. U.S. School Yearbooks, 1900–1999 (ancestry.com): Kankakeean [yearbook]. Kankakee IL: Kankakee High School, 1942 and 1944
17. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946
18. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com)
19. World War I Draft Registration of Jearld Rosenberger. 25 May 1917 (his father; signed his name Jearld Rosenberger)
Research by:
Paul Webber
Secretary, 487th Bomb Group Association
Find A Grave member ID 47577572
---------- Here is the original bio by Russ Pickett. ----------
Jearold served as a Staff Sergeant & Ball Turret Gunner on B-24H #42-95217, 838th Bomber Squadron, 487th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. He resided in Illinois prior to the war.
Jearold was killed In action when his B-24, while on a mission to bomb an oil refinery at Misburg near Hannover, Germany, was shot down by flak which tore off the tail causing them to crash at Hannover-Langenhagen, about five kilometers north of Hannover, Germany during the war.
He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
Service # 36740528
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Airmen who perished on B-24H 42-95217:
Boyd, Leslie L – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – from Nebraska
Erwin, Arthur D – 2nd Lt – Pilot – from Arkansas
Kussy, Leroy S, Jr – Sgt – Waist Gunner – from Illinois
Lumpkin, Claude L – S/Sgt – Nose Gunner – from Texas
Mackie, Thomas S – 2nd Lt – Bombardier – from Pennsylvania
Mass, Rubie R – 2nd Lt – Copilot – from Illinois
Musser, Elmer G – S/Sgt – Top Turret Gunner – from Illinois
Rosenberger, Jearold F – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – from Illinois
Airman who became a POW from B-24H 42-95217:
Ross, Albert L – S/Sgt – Tail Turret Gunner
( Bio & Crew Report by: Russell S. "Russ" Pickett )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
His parents were Jearld John Rosenberger (6 Aug 1898 – 16 Nov 1989), who was born at Pinckneyville, Perry County, Illinois; and Stella Mary (Seibert) Rosenberger (22 Aug 1902 – 6 May 1978), who was born at Kankakee, Illinois. In 1918 his father lived in Pinckneyville and worked for the Illinois Central Railroad. By 1920 his father lived in Kankakee and worked in a furniture factory, where he was a cabinet maker and later a shipping clerk. His parents married at Kankakee on January 10, 1923. By 1930 the family home was at 942 North Schuyler Avenue in Kankakee. He had a brother, Gordon L. Rosenberger (abt 1939 – ).
He attended Kankakee High School, where he participated in the Latin, Science, and Press clubs, and was a photographer for the school's Kankakeean yearbook. He graduated from Kankakee High School in 1942, and registered for the draft at Kankakee on June 29, 1942. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighed 130 pounds, and had brown eyes and brown hair. At that time he lived with his parents and was employed by Alpiner & Son Cigar Store at 222 S. East Avenue in Kankakee.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army by Fall 1942, and completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery and armorer training. In Fall 1943 he attended a football game at Kankakee High School. In the 1944 Kankakeean yearbook, there is a photo of him in uniform sitting with a group of spectators at the game. It shows him sitting next to a young woman named Roberta Yocom, who appears to be his date.
He was assigned as ball turret gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Thomas Womer. In December 1943 the Womer crew began B-24 crew training at Davis-Monthan Field in Tucson, Arizona. In January 1944 the Womer crew was assigned to the 838th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group (Heavy), at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. There they completed B-24 crew training and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 42-52662 from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lavenham, England via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—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.
After arrival at Station 137, Sgt Rosenberger and four of his original crewmates (Musser, Boyd, Lumpkin, and Kussy) were reassigned to the crew of Lt Arthur D. Erwin in the 838th Bomb Squadron. Here is Lt Erwin's crew roster on June 20, 1944:
B-24H 42-95217 – 838th Bomb Squadron
• Erwin, Arthur D – 2/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Mass, Rubie R – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Mackie, Thomas S – 2/Lt – Bombardier – KIA
• Musser, Elmer G – S/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Boyd, Leslie L – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Lumpkin, Claude L – S/Sgt – Nose Turret Gunner – KIA
• Kussy Jr, Leroy S – Sgt – Top Turret Gunner – KIA
• Rosenberger, Jearold F – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – KIA
• Ross, Albert L – S/Sgt – Tail Turret Gunner – POW
S/Sgt Rosenberger and seven of his crewmates were killed in action on June 20, 1944 when their aircraft, B-24H 42-95217, was shot down by flak on the mission to bomb an oil refinery at Misburg near Hannover, Germany. Just after bombs away, the aircraft received a direct flak hit which tore off the tail. The aircraft spun to the ground in flames and crashed five kilometers north of Hannover. The bodies of eight crew members were found in the wreckage. The dead were buried initially at the military cemetery in Hannover-Limmer. S/Sgt Ross, the tail gunner, was able to bail out and landed at Mecklenheide near Hannover. He was captured there and became a prisoner of war.
After the war, S/Sgt Rosenberger's remains were permanently reinterred at Ardennes American Cemetery, Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium in Plot A, Row 23, Grave 20. He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
His crewmate S/Sgt Albert Louis Ross survived captivity and returned to Chico, Butte County, California after the war. He was lost at sea in 1979 while working as a commercial fisherman off the Mendocino coast near Fort Bragg, Mendocino County, California.
Sources:
1. 487th Bomb Group Association
2. 1920 US Census; Illinois; Kankakee County; Kankakee City. Rosenberger, Otto. 21 Jan 1920 (Jearld J. Rosenberger, his father, in the household of Otto Rosenberger, his father's brother)
3. 1930 US Census; Illinois; Kankakee County; Kankakee Township; Kankakee City. Rosenberger, John J [sic]. 30 Apr 1930 (Jearld John Rosenberger, his father)
4. 1940 US Census; Illinois; Kankakee County; Kankakee Township; Kankakee City. Rosenberger, Jearld. 9 Apr 1940 (his father)
5. American Battle Monuments Commission
6. Daily Journal. Alpiner's local icon has been here since the 1880s. Kankakee IL, 1 Jul 2017 (article about Alpiner & Son Cigar Store, Kankakee, Illinois)
7. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004
8. HQ, 359th Combat Crew Training School, Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. Special Orders Number 71. 11 Mar 1944 (487th Bomb Group flight echelon order to proceed from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Herington, Kansas during the deployment to England)
9. HQ, Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona. Special Orders Number 1. 1 Jan 1944 (transfer of fifty heavy bomber combat crews, less navigators, from Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona to the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico)
10. Hutchings, Faith. Rosenberger Genealogy. 29 Jan 2000
11. Illlinois, County Marriages, 1810–1934: Jerald J. Rosenbeger [sic], age 24, married Stella Mary Seibert, age 21, at Kankakee, Illinois on 10 Jan 1923 (his parents)
12. Rosenberger, Gordon L. Personal Communication. 15 Jun 2016 (his brother)
13. Social Security Death Index
14. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 5935
15. U.S. Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942–1949 (ancestry.com)
16. U.S. School Yearbooks, 1900–1999 (ancestry.com): Kankakeean [yearbook]. Kankakee IL: Kankakee High School, 1942 and 1944
17. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946
18. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com)
19. World War I Draft Registration of Jearld Rosenberger. 25 May 1917 (his father; signed his name Jearld Rosenberger)
Research by:
Paul Webber
Secretary, 487th Bomb Group Association
Find A Grave member ID 47577572
---------- Here is the original bio by Russ Pickett. ----------
Jearold served as a Staff Sergeant & Ball Turret Gunner on B-24H #42-95217, 838th Bomber Squadron, 487th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. He resided in Illinois prior to the war.
Jearold was killed In action when his B-24, while on a mission to bomb an oil refinery at Misburg near Hannover, Germany, was shot down by flak which tore off the tail causing them to crash at Hannover-Langenhagen, about five kilometers north of Hannover, Germany during the war.
He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
Service # 36740528
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Airmen who perished on B-24H 42-95217:
Boyd, Leslie L – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – from Nebraska
Erwin, Arthur D – 2nd Lt – Pilot – from Arkansas
Kussy, Leroy S, Jr – Sgt – Waist Gunner – from Illinois
Lumpkin, Claude L – S/Sgt – Nose Gunner – from Texas
Mackie, Thomas S – 2nd Lt – Bombardier – from Pennsylvania
Mass, Rubie R – 2nd Lt – Copilot – from Illinois
Musser, Elmer G – S/Sgt – Top Turret Gunner – from Illinois
Rosenberger, Jearold F – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – from Illinois
Airman who became a POW from B-24H 42-95217:
Ross, Albert L – S/Sgt – Tail Turret Gunner
( Bio & Crew Report by: Russell S. "Russ" Pickett )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Staff Sergeant Jearold F. Rosenberger, Army serial number 36740528, was born at Kankakee, Kankakee County, Illinois on October 9, 1923. His birth name is Jearld Francis Rosenberger (first name the same as his father), but his first name was changed to Jearold in military records.
His parents were Jearld John Rosenberger (6 Aug 1898 – 16 Nov 1989), who was born at Pinckneyville, Perry County, Illinois; and Stella Mary (Seibert) Rosenberger (22 Aug 1902 – 6 May 1978), who was born at Kankakee, Illinois. In 1918 his father lived in Pinckneyville and worked for the Illinois Central Railroad. By 1920 his father lived in Kankakee and worked in a furniture factory, where he was a cabinet maker and later a shipping clerk. His parents married at Kankakee on January 10, 1923. By 1930 the family home was at 942 North Schuyler Avenue in Kankakee. He had a brother, Gordon L. Rosenberger (abt 1939 – ).
He attended Kankakee High School, where he participated in the Latin, Science, and Press clubs, and was a photographer for the school's Kankakeean yearbook. He graduated from Kankakee High School in 1942, and registered for the draft at Kankakee on June 29, 1942. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighed 130 pounds, and had brown eyes and brown hair. At that time he lived with his parents and was employed by Alpiner & Son Cigar Store at 222 S. East Avenue in Kankakee.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army by Fall 1942, and completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery and armorer training. In Fall 1943 he attended a football game at Kankakee High School. In the 1944 Kankakeean yearbook, there is a photo of him in uniform sitting with a group of spectators at the game. It shows him sitting next to a young woman named Roberta Yocom, who appears to be his date.
He was assigned as ball turret gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Thomas Womer. In December 1943 the Womer crew began B-24 crew training at Davis-Monthan Field in Tucson, Arizona. In January 1944 the Womer crew was assigned to the 838th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group (Heavy), at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. There they completed B-24 crew training and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 42-52662 from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lavenham, England via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—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.
After arrival at Station 137, Sgt Rosenberger and four of his original crewmates (Musser, Boyd, Lumpkin, and Kussy) were reassigned to the crew of Lt Arthur D. Erwin in the 838th Bomb Squadron. Here is Lt Erwin's crew roster on June 20, 1944:
B-24H 42-95217 – 838th Bomb Squadron
• Erwin, Arthur D – 2/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Mass, Rubie R – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Mackie, Thomas S – 2/Lt – Bombardier – KIA
• Musser, Elmer G – S/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Boyd, Leslie L – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Lumpkin, Claude L – S/Sgt – Nose Turret Gunner – KIA
• Kussy Jr, Leroy S – Sgt – Top Turret Gunner – KIA
• Rosenberger, Jearold F – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – KIA
• Ross, Albert L – S/Sgt – Tail Turret Gunner – POW
S/Sgt Rosenberger and seven of his crewmates were killed in action on June 20, 1944 when their aircraft, B-24H 42-95217, was shot down by flak on the mission to bomb an oil refinery at Misburg near Hannover, Germany. Just after bombs away, the aircraft received a direct flak hit which tore off the tail. The aircraft spun to the ground in flames and crashed five kilometers north of Hannover. The bodies of eight crew members were found in the wreckage. The dead were buried initially at the military cemetery in Hannover-Limmer. S/Sgt Ross, the tail gunner, was able to bail out and landed at Mecklenheide near Hannover. He was captured there and became a prisoner of war.
After the war, S/Sgt Rosenberger's remains were permanently reinterred at Ardennes American Cemetery, Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium in Plot A, Row 23, Grave 20. He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
His crewmate S/Sgt Albert Louis Ross survived captivity and returned to Chico, Butte County, California after the war. He was lost at sea in 1979 while working as a commercial fisherman off the Mendocino coast near Fort Bragg, Mendocino County, California.
Sources:
1. 487th Bomb Group Association
2. 1920 US Census; Illinois; Kankakee County; Kankakee City. Rosenberger, Otto. 21 Jan 1920 (Jearld J. Rosenberger, his father, in the household of Otto Rosenberger, his father's brother)
3. 1930 US Census; Illinois; Kankakee County; Kankakee Township; Kankakee City. Rosenberger, John J [sic]. 30 Apr 1930 (Jearld John Rosenberger, his father)
4. 1940 US Census; Illinois; Kankakee County; Kankakee Township; Kankakee City. Rosenberger, Jearld. 9 Apr 1940 (his father)
5. American Battle Monuments Commission
6. Daily Journal. Alpiner's local icon has been here since the 1880s. Kankakee IL, 1 Jul 2017 (article about Alpiner & Son Cigar Store, Kankakee, Illinois)
7. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004
8. HQ, 359th Combat Crew Training School, Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. Special Orders Number 71. 11 Mar 1944 (487th Bomb Group flight echelon order to proceed from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Herington, Kansas during the deployment to England)
9. HQ, Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona. Special Orders Number 1. 1 Jan 1944 (transfer of fifty heavy bomber combat crews, less navigators, from Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona to the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico)
10. Hutchings, Faith. Rosenberger Genealogy. 29 Jan 2000
11. Illlinois, County Marriages, 1810–1934: Jerald J. Rosenbeger [sic], age 24, married Stella Mary Seibert, age 21, at Kankakee, Illinois on 10 Jan 1923 (his parents)
12. Rosenberger, Gordon L. Personal Communication. 15 Jun 2016 (his brother)
13. Social Security Death Index
14. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 5935
15. U.S. Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942–1949 (ancestry.com)
16. U.S. School Yearbooks, 1900–1999 (ancestry.com): Kankakeean [yearbook]. Kankakee IL: Kankakee High School, 1942 and 1944
17. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946
18. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com)
19. World War I Draft Registration of Jearld Rosenberger. 25 May 1917 (his father; signed his name Jearld Rosenberger)
Research by:
Paul Webber
Secretary, 487th Bomb Group Association
Find A Grave member ID 47577572
---------- Here is the original bio by Russ Pickett. ----------
Jearold served as a Staff Sergeant & Ball Turret Gunner on B-24H #42-95217, 838th Bomber Squadron, 487th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. He resided in Illinois prior to the war.
Jearold was killed In action when his B-24, while on a mission to bomb an oil refinery at Misburg near Hannover, Germany, was shot down by flak which tore off the tail causing them to crash at Hannover-Langenhagen, about five kilometers north of Hannover, Germany during the war.
He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
Service # 36740528
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Airmen who perished on B-24H 42-95217:
Boyd, Leslie L – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – from Nebraska
Erwin, Arthur D – 2nd Lt – Pilot – from Arkansas
Kussy, Leroy S, Jr – Sgt – Waist Gunner – from Illinois
Lumpkin, Claude L – S/Sgt – Nose Gunner – from Texas
Mackie, Thomas S – 2nd Lt – Bombardier – from Pennsylvania
Mass, Rubie R – 2nd Lt – Copilot – from Illinois
Musser, Elmer G – S/Sgt – Top Turret Gunner – from Illinois
Rosenberger, Jearold F – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – from Illinois
Airman who became a POW from B-24H 42-95217:
Ross, Albert L – S/Sgt – Tail Turret Gunner
( Bio & Crew Report by: Russell S. "Russ" Pickett )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
His parents were Jearld John Rosenberger (6 Aug 1898 – 16 Nov 1989), who was born at Pinckneyville, Perry County, Illinois; and Stella Mary (Seibert) Rosenberger (22 Aug 1902 – 6 May 1978), who was born at Kankakee, Illinois. In 1918 his father lived in Pinckneyville and worked for the Illinois Central Railroad. By 1920 his father lived in Kankakee and worked in a furniture factory, where he was a cabinet maker and later a shipping clerk. His parents married at Kankakee on January 10, 1923. By 1930 the family home was at 942 North Schuyler Avenue in Kankakee. He had a brother, Gordon L. Rosenberger (abt 1939 – ).
He attended Kankakee High School, where he participated in the Latin, Science, and Press clubs, and was a photographer for the school's Kankakeean yearbook. He graduated from Kankakee High School in 1942, and registered for the draft at Kankakee on June 29, 1942. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighed 130 pounds, and had brown eyes and brown hair. At that time he lived with his parents and was employed by Alpiner & Son Cigar Store at 222 S. East Avenue in Kankakee.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army by Fall 1942, and completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery and armorer training. In Fall 1943 he attended a football game at Kankakee High School. In the 1944 Kankakeean yearbook, there is a photo of him in uniform sitting with a group of spectators at the game. It shows him sitting next to a young woman named Roberta Yocom, who appears to be his date.
He was assigned as ball turret gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Thomas Womer. In December 1943 the Womer crew began B-24 crew training at Davis-Monthan Field in Tucson, Arizona. In January 1944 the Womer crew was assigned to the 838th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group (Heavy), at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. There they completed B-24 crew training and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 42-52662 from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lavenham, England via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—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.
After arrival at Station 137, Sgt Rosenberger and four of his original crewmates (Musser, Boyd, Lumpkin, and Kussy) were reassigned to the crew of Lt Arthur D. Erwin in the 838th Bomb Squadron. Here is Lt Erwin's crew roster on June 20, 1944:
B-24H 42-95217 – 838th Bomb Squadron
• Erwin, Arthur D – 2/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Mass, Rubie R – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Mackie, Thomas S – 2/Lt – Bombardier – KIA
• Musser, Elmer G – S/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Boyd, Leslie L – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Lumpkin, Claude L – S/Sgt – Nose Turret Gunner – KIA
• Kussy Jr, Leroy S – Sgt – Top Turret Gunner – KIA
• Rosenberger, Jearold F – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – KIA
• Ross, Albert L – S/Sgt – Tail Turret Gunner – POW
S/Sgt Rosenberger and seven of his crewmates were killed in action on June 20, 1944 when their aircraft, B-24H 42-95217, was shot down by flak on the mission to bomb an oil refinery at Misburg near Hannover, Germany. Just after bombs away, the aircraft received a direct flak hit which tore off the tail. The aircraft spun to the ground in flames and crashed five kilometers north of Hannover. The bodies of eight crew members were found in the wreckage. The dead were buried initially at the military cemetery in Hannover-Limmer. S/Sgt Ross, the tail gunner, was able to bail out and landed at Mecklenheide near Hannover. He was captured there and became a prisoner of war.
After the war, S/Sgt Rosenberger's remains were permanently reinterred at Ardennes American Cemetery, Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium in Plot A, Row 23, Grave 20. He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
His crewmate S/Sgt Albert Louis Ross survived captivity and returned to Chico, Butte County, California after the war. He was lost at sea in 1979 while working as a commercial fisherman off the Mendocino coast near Fort Bragg, Mendocino County, California.
Sources:
1. 487th Bomb Group Association
2. 1920 US Census; Illinois; Kankakee County; Kankakee City. Rosenberger, Otto. 21 Jan 1920 (Jearld J. Rosenberger, his father, in the household of Otto Rosenberger, his father's brother)
3. 1930 US Census; Illinois; Kankakee County; Kankakee Township; Kankakee City. Rosenberger, John J [sic]. 30 Apr 1930 (Jearld John Rosenberger, his father)
4. 1940 US Census; Illinois; Kankakee County; Kankakee Township; Kankakee City. Rosenberger, Jearld. 9 Apr 1940 (his father)
5. American Battle Monuments Commission
6. Daily Journal. Alpiner's local icon has been here since the 1880s. Kankakee IL, 1 Jul 2017 (article about Alpiner & Son Cigar Store, Kankakee, Illinois)
7. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004
8. HQ, 359th Combat Crew Training School, Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. Special Orders Number 71. 11 Mar 1944 (487th Bomb Group flight echelon order to proceed from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Herington, Kansas during the deployment to England)
9. HQ, Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona. Special Orders Number 1. 1 Jan 1944 (transfer of fifty heavy bomber combat crews, less navigators, from Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona to the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico)
10. Hutchings, Faith. Rosenberger Genealogy. 29 Jan 2000
11. Illlinois, County Marriages, 1810–1934: Jerald J. Rosenbeger [sic], age 24, married Stella Mary Seibert, age 21, at Kankakee, Illinois on 10 Jan 1923 (his parents)
12. Rosenberger, Gordon L. Personal Communication. 15 Jun 2016 (his brother)
13. Social Security Death Index
14. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 5935
15. U.S. Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942–1949 (ancestry.com)
16. U.S. School Yearbooks, 1900–1999 (ancestry.com): Kankakeean [yearbook]. Kankakee IL: Kankakee High School, 1942 and 1944
17. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946
18. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com)
19. World War I Draft Registration of Jearld Rosenberger. 25 May 1917 (his father; signed his name Jearld Rosenberger)
Research by:
Paul Webber
Secretary, 487th Bomb Group Association
Find A Grave member ID 47577572
---------- Here is the original bio by Russ Pickett. ----------
Jearold served as a Staff Sergeant & Ball Turret Gunner on B-24H #42-95217, 838th Bomber Squadron, 487th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. He resided in Illinois prior to the war.
Jearold was killed In action when his B-24, while on a mission to bomb an oil refinery at Misburg near Hannover, Germany, was shot down by flak which tore off the tail causing them to crash at Hannover-Langenhagen, about five kilometers north of Hannover, Germany during the war.
He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
Service # 36740528
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Airmen who perished on B-24H 42-95217:
Boyd, Leslie L – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – from Nebraska
Erwin, Arthur D – 2nd Lt – Pilot – from Arkansas
Kussy, Leroy S, Jr – Sgt – Waist Gunner – from Illinois
Lumpkin, Claude L – S/Sgt – Nose Gunner – from Texas
Mackie, Thomas S – 2nd Lt – Bombardier – from Pennsylvania
Mass, Rubie R – 2nd Lt – Copilot – from Illinois
Musser, Elmer G – S/Sgt – Top Turret Gunner – from Illinois
Rosenberger, Jearold F – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – from Illinois
Airman who became a POW from B-24H 42-95217:
Ross, Albert L – S/Sgt – Tail Turret Gunner
( Bio & Crew Report by: Russell S. "Russ" Pickett )
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