Patzke, Jack
April 8, 1945, Germany
Born in Minnesota in 1924, Patzke graduated from Klamath Union High School and was employed by Crane Mills in Bly.
He enlisted with the U.S. Army Air Corps on Nov. 23, 1942, and was promoted to the rank of sergeant a few days before his 19th birthday. He received training in Florida and Texas, and was stationed at Scott Field, Ill., where he received his radioman training.
He was serving with the 99th Bomber Group, 347th Bomb Squadron, when his plane was shot down on April 30, 1944, near Bologna, Italy. He was taken by the Germans as a prisoner of war, detained at Stalag Luft III Sagan-Silesia, Bavaria. In the winter of 1944, Patzke, along with 10,000 other allied prisoners, was forced on a 200-mile long march to a prisoner of war camp in Nuremberg. He was killed on the way to Nuremberg.
Patzke's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Patzke of Bly, were informed of their son's death.
The Patzke family suffered further loss on May 5, 1945, when two other children in the family – Joan and Dick Patzke – were killed in the explosion of a Japanese balloon bomb in the Fremont National Forest.
April 8, 1945, Germany
Born in Minnesota in 1924, Patzke graduated from Klamath Union High School and was employed by Crane Mills in Bly.
He enlisted with the U.S. Army Air Corps on Nov. 23, 1942, and was promoted to the rank of sergeant a few days before his 19th birthday. He received training in Florida and Texas, and was stationed at Scott Field, Ill., where he received his radioman training.
He was serving with the 99th Bomber Group, 347th Bomb Squadron, when his plane was shot down on April 30, 1944, near Bologna, Italy. He was taken by the Germans as a prisoner of war, detained at Stalag Luft III Sagan-Silesia, Bavaria. In the winter of 1944, Patzke, along with 10,000 other allied prisoners, was forced on a 200-mile long march to a prisoner of war camp in Nuremberg. He was killed on the way to Nuremberg.
Patzke's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Patzke of Bly, were informed of their son's death.
The Patzke family suffered further loss on May 5, 1945, when two other children in the family – Joan and Dick Patzke – were killed in the explosion of a Japanese balloon bomb in the Fremont National Forest.
Patzke, Jack
April 8, 1945, Germany
Born in Minnesota in 1924, Patzke graduated from Klamath Union High School and was employed by Crane Mills in Bly.
He enlisted with the U.S. Army Air Corps on Nov. 23, 1942, and was promoted to the rank of sergeant a few days before his 19th birthday. He received training in Florida and Texas, and was stationed at Scott Field, Ill., where he received his radioman training.
He was serving with the 99th Bomber Group, 347th Bomb Squadron, when his plane was shot down on April 30, 1944, near Bologna, Italy. He was taken by the Germans as a prisoner of war, detained at Stalag Luft III Sagan-Silesia, Bavaria. In the winter of 1944, Patzke, along with 10,000 other allied prisoners, was forced on a 200-mile long march to a prisoner of war camp in Nuremberg. He was killed on the way to Nuremberg.
Patzke's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Patzke of Bly, were informed of their son's death.
The Patzke family suffered further loss on May 5, 1945, when two other children in the family – Joan and Dick Patzke – were killed in the explosion of a Japanese balloon bomb in the Fremont National Forest.
April 8, 1945, Germany
Born in Minnesota in 1924, Patzke graduated from Klamath Union High School and was employed by Crane Mills in Bly.
He enlisted with the U.S. Army Air Corps on Nov. 23, 1942, and was promoted to the rank of sergeant a few days before his 19th birthday. He received training in Florida and Texas, and was stationed at Scott Field, Ill., where he received his radioman training.
He was serving with the 99th Bomber Group, 347th Bomb Squadron, when his plane was shot down on April 30, 1944, near Bologna, Italy. He was taken by the Germans as a prisoner of war, detained at Stalag Luft III Sagan-Silesia, Bavaria. In the winter of 1944, Patzke, along with 10,000 other allied prisoners, was forced on a 200-mile long march to a prisoner of war camp in Nuremberg. He was killed on the way to Nuremberg.
Patzke's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Patzke of Bly, were informed of their son's death.
The Patzke family suffered further loss on May 5, 1945, when two other children in the family – Joan and Dick Patzke – were killed in the explosion of a Japanese balloon bomb in the Fremont National Forest.
Gravesite Details
Buried April 22, 1950
