SSGT. Earle Francis Hegerle

Service Number -- 20920497

WWII – DNB (died nonbattle)

Parents: Ignatius and Emma (Klock) Hegerle

1930 - Children of Ignatius and Emma: Lucille Hegerle 14, Ruth Hegerle 13, Earle Hegerle 11, Harold Hegerle 9, Charlotte Hegerle 6, Matthew Hegerle 4, Lorraine Hegerle 2. Later children: Donald, born 1930; Walter, born 1933; Jean Adeline, born 1935

Earle Francis Hegerle was born 19 Sep 1918 to Ignatius and Emma (Klock) Hegerle at Watertown, Carver County, Minn. He attended elementary parochial school at St. Bonifacius, MN, and went on to graduate from high school at Mound, Minnesota, in 1936. That fall the family moved to San Diego, CA.

During the years between high school and joining the army, Earle was a member of the National Guard and worked as a mechanic at North Island.

On 16 Sep 1940. Earle was inducted into the army and joined Battery C, 251st Coast Artillery (AA); Service No. 20720497. This was San Diego’s own unit. In a letter home, he wrote," I got my hair cut short yesterday for the very first time in my life. I look like a peeled onion." When Pearl Harbor was attacked, he was serving with Battery C, 251st CA and had been with that organization since his induction. He was stationed at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii.

Pvt. Earle F. Hegerle, US Army, was promoted to Corporal, Battery C, 251st Coast Artillery (AA) on 5 Dec. 1940 by Col. John H. Sherman, 251st Commanding from Fort Shafter, Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. He was known to have been at Fort Ruger on Oahu as well.

He was still in Hawaii and serving as Mess Sgt. of his battery for three months prior to the attack on Dec. 7, 1941. He was unharmed in the attack. Before his stint as Mess Sgt., he had been gun corporal and acting gun commander on three inch guns.

Earle transferred to the Army air Corps in April of 1943. He was stationed at Santa Ana and Twenty-nine Palms for cadet training.

Transferred to Amarillo, Texas for aviation mechanics school.

Earle was stationed at KAAF, Kingman, AZ, when he signed his power of attorney to his wife Eileen on 10 May 1944. Then, by 31 Aug. 1944, he was at Combat Crew Headquarters, Biggs Field, El Paso, TX.

Earle Received his gunner’s wings at Kingman, AZ, and his aerial engineer’s wings at Biggs Field, Texas.

Family photos in 1943 refer to Earle as "Red."

In April of 1943, Earle met Eileen Herron who had moved from South Dakota to San Diego to work at Star and Crescent. They were married on November 19, 1943 at Pampa, Texas. The family tells that Earle actually went AWOL for their 3 day honeymoon. To this union, a son, William Roy Hegerle, was born on 19 May 1944. Eileen had gone home to South Dakota to have her baby. That Aug. Earle came by train, departing at Blunt, SD, to visit his new family. It was the last time he saw them.

He was a bombardier and in final training as aerial engineer scheduled for overseas duty when he was killed.

On 19 Oct 1944, Earle was flying as flight engineer on the B-17 Flying Fortress which crashed 30 miles SE of Deming, NM at 9:45 p.m. MWT, 19 Oct. 1944, while on a training mission from Biggs Field, Texas to Blythe Field, California. About 20 min. after takeoff, the plane reached an altitude of 14,000 ft. and had been flying in level flight for 5 min. when fire developed in the #3 engine following failure of the #1 cylinder of that same engine.

Attempts to extinguish or control the fire were unsuccessful and both the pilot and the instructor pilot ordered the crew to bail out, sounding the alarm bell at the same time. The pilot went to the nose of the plane to personally assist personnel in that part of the ship while the co-pilot headed for the radio room for the same purpose.

The instructor pilot attempted to fly the plane until vibrations and flames forced him to relinquish the controls and get out. The pilot, instructor pilot, and two members of the crew in the nose succeeded in escaping by parachute, but those in the rear perished in the plane.

Earle and five others perished.

Letter to Eileen from a buddy who was not on the plane that crashed….

“They took off and started on a direct heading to Blythe. They discovered that a fuel leak on #3 engine had caught fire. The tail gunner called up three times and said flames were licking by the tail of the plane. The bail out order was given. The nose was cleared by the bombardier and navigator, and then the pilot and instructor pilot started to leave. An extra parachute was found as they reached for their own, and the co-pilot was in the radio room without a chute… Just as Red was leaving the plane, the wing exploded and his chute caught on the plane. The medical officer who made the examination reported that Red was unconscious when the Great Creator claimed him. He was not even scorched from the explosion and death came quickly. He never knew what happened after he left the plane. The rest of the details I’d rather not tell.”

His funeral was held Oct. 27, 1944 at Sacred Heart Church in Ocean Beach, CA with Goodbody's Ivy Chapel of San Diego in charge of arrangements. He is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery at San Diego, Calif.

At Earle's funeral in California, Eileen met Earle’s brother, Harold. Six years later, on August 7, 1950, Eileen married Harold Hegerle at Gettysburg, SD.

In another family tragedy, Earle and Eileen's son, William Roy "Billy", was killed in a farm accident on the Herron-Hegerle farm near Gettysburg, SD on 19 May 1956.

++Note an oddity - the number 19++. Eileen wrote about this in one of her letters to Lt. Bakula. Earle was born, married, and died on the 19th of the month and their son was also born on the 19th of the month. In 1956, their son Billy was killed in a farm accident on the 19th of the month.

Some crew members on board the fateful flight.

SURVIVORS

BAKULA – 2nd Lt. R.G. “Bob” Bakula – PILOT - Service # 0774469 – Combat Crew 7739 out of Biggs Field, TX. His wife (possibly Rita or Mary Rita) lived in St. Louis, MO at time of crash. Roommate of Lt. James Edward Briggs. He survived.

De LOTTO – 2nd Lt. Reny A. De Lotto – BOMBARDIER – son of Utilde De Lotto of Clifton, NJ. He survived.

VAUGHN – 1st Lt. Shelby F. or Shelby H. Vaughn – INSTRUCTOR PILOT – son of Dora B. Vaughn of Tulia, Texas. He survived.

WILBURN – 2nd Lt. Joe W. or Gerald W. Wilburn – NAVIGATOR – son of Annie Wilburn of Nashville, TN. He survived.

KILLED IN CRASH

BRIGGS – Lt. James E. “Edward” Briggs -- CO-PILOT – son of Levy and Minnie Briggs of Alpena Pass, Arkansas – roommate of pilot Bob Bakula. Killed in crash.

CROCKETT – Charles S. Crockett – RADIO OPERATOR -- son of Charles and Katherine Crockett of Burlingame, CA –brother of Betty Crockett age 26 in 1944– Charles Crockett was born 19 March 1923 – attended San Mateo Junior College and would have graduated in Dec. 1944 if he had not been drafted – thought to have bailed out, but chute did not open. Age 21 when Killed in crash

HEGERLE – S Sgt. Earle Hegerle – AERIAL ENGINEER – of Ocean Beach, CA.

KLING – Cpl. Stanley J. Kling – GUNNER – spouse of Phyllis Kling of Winona, MN and who was visiting her husband at Biggs Field at the time of the crash. Killed in crash.

OLSON – Cpl. John G. Olson – GUNNER – son of Gust Olson of Centerville, Iowa. Brother of Vivian Olson age 17 in 1944 -- Cpl. Olson was born 4 Sep 1923 & age 21 when he was killed in the crash.

REUL – Henry G. Reul – GUNNER – son of Julia Reul of San Francisco. Killed in crash.

According to letters in the Hegerle Family Scrapbook from survivors, families, and military friends….

-Three of the men bailed out too late for their parachutes to save them.

-A wing exploded

-The navigator, bombardier, & pilot bailed out of the front emergency door. The instructor pilot kept flying and then jumped himself.

-Engine on one side caught fire causing the plane to go into a tailspin.

======================

John G. Olson’s niece on ancestry.com

Uncle Jack was killed days later when during a training accident in an air plane the pilot and the crew in the front of the plane parachuted from the plane. The crew in the back of the plane died in the crash. Uncle Jack was a tail gunner. The navigator was found in the tunnel leading back to the crew in the back of the plane. The survivors said the pilot told the navigator to go back and tell the rear crew to bail out. When Uncle Jack died he was engaged to Darlene (Darlyne) Roby. I spoke with Darlene Roby in Jan 2014 after months of searching for her. I found her by looking for her on ancestry. I made a Roby tree and entered the information Mom remembered about her. The tree is named Roby Family Research.

Earle F Hegerle