Staff Sergeant Kenneth L Stumpf enlisted in the U.S. Army on June 20, 1942. On May 10, 1943 he was the assistant radio operator in a B-24D Liberator in the 513 Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) 376th Bombardment Group of the 12th Air Force.
They took off from Berka 2 airfield in Benghazi, Libya on a bombing mission on the Eleusis airdrome 18 km northwest of Athens, Greece.
After completing the bombing, they were attacked by 7 enemy aircraft that attacked in pairs. At about 14:30, an overshot of a rocket fired by Uffz Rudolf Moycis in a BF 109G-6 hit the aircraft in the left wing when they were near the town of Poendeoria, Greece. The gas lines caught fire and the aircrafts oxygen, electrical systems, and controls were shot out. Later the aircraft was seen to explode and break up in mid-air.
Two of the crew were Killed In Action, two were taken prisoners of war, and 7 evaded capture.
S/SGT Stumpf was taken as a Prisoner of War and taken to Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia Bavaria. He was later moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser where he remained until he was liberated at the conclusion of World War II.
S/SGT Stumpf is buried in St Bernard Memorial Garden cemetery in Chalmette, LA.
Click Here For His Location In The Cemetery