Baumgartner, Carl D.

CARL DAVID BAUMGARTNER

PRIVATE 1st CLASS
U.S. ARMY AIR CORPS

Carl David Baumgartner was born on December 4th, 1919 in Corner French, Indiana. His father was Joe Baumgartner, and his mother was Viola Beitler. He grew up with seven older siblings: Esther Leotta, Russell Lawrence, Glenn Joseph, Anna Elizabeth, Roy Wilson, John Melvin, and Alice Mae; and two younger siblings: Dale Erskine and Don Harold. He was never married, and had no children. Carl, nicknamed "Bummy" at the time, went to high school for four years at Kirkland High School in Kirkland, Indiana. In his junior year, he was known as the powerhouse of the basketball team and an inspiration for everyone. He was also in the school's Farmers' Institute, although there is no information other than the fact that him and his brother participated. 

Carl enlisted in the army during World War II on May 15, 1942 at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, Indiana. At the time, he was 5'8" and weighed 155 pounds. He attained the rank of Private First Class and was assigned to the 395th Bombardment Group of the Army Air Corps. PFC Baumgartner trained as a radio operator and served in the Panama Canal Zone and Mexico, before he returned to the states to receive aircrew training on a B17 Bomber in Kansas. 

On August 18, 1943, while conducting a routine training flight around Ardmore Air Force Base, Kansas; Carl and five others were killed when their B-17 crashed. During the flight, a propeller "ran away," causing the plane to go out of control. In an attempt to fix this issue at a low altitude under 100 feet, the bomber belly-landed and slid into a ditch, killing the airmen instantly. Afterwards, the plane caught on fire, burning the remains. Carl's remains were sent to Fort Benjamin Harrison, and a funeral was held at 1:30 P.M. on August 23, 1943 at the home of his parents, and at 2:00 P.M. at the Pleasant Dale Church of the Brethren. He was interred in the Pleasant Dale Cemetery in plot 292 in Pleasant Dale, Indiana. 

Carl's brother, PFC Dale Baumgartner, was killed in action in Germany during the Battle of the Bulge in December, 1944. 

For his service and sacrifice, PFC Carl Baumgartner earned the American Theatre Campaign Medal and the WWII Victory Medal. 

Information researched and collected by Grant Millington, 2015. 

SOURCES

Kirkland County High School. Kirkland High School Yearbook: 1936-1937. Decatur, 1937. Print.

National Archives and Records Administration. U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records,1938-1946 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operation s Inc, 2005.

Year: 1930; Census Place:Kirkland, Adams, Indiana; Roll: 574; Page: 2A; Enumeration District:0005; Image: 71.0; FHL microfilm: 2340309

"292. pd1211 PFC Carl D BAUMGARTNER 395 Bomb. Squad. Dec. 4, 1919 Aug. 18, 1943" Bluffton News-Banner [Bluffton, IN] 21 Aug. 1943: Vol. XIV. Print.

Indiana Historical Bureau.Gold Star Honor Roll ADAMS COUNTY. Bloomington, 1949. Print.

Baumgartner, Ned. Personal interview. October 2015.

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