Louis Joseph Asmer was born January 21, 1918 to Joseph Asmer (1885-1949) and Adra Asmer (1887-1957). I was unable to track down his mothers maiden name. His parents were from Syria and were married before coming to the United States. Louis was the middle of their five sons which included Abraham, Albert, Sam (known as an amateur and then professional boxer) and John (known as a pitcher for the local Utica Braves). The family lived on Railroad St. in Whitestown, NY. His dad worked for the Hind and Harrison Plush Company in Clark Mills, NY. As the boys got older they too worked. Louis was a machine operator at the local textile mill.

In July 1932 he graduated from Clinton grammar school. In February 1933 local papers reported that he passed his preliminary regents exams at Clinton Central Rural School and thus was qualified to attend regular high school (which would have been Clinton Central School). His obituary that appeared in the May 11, 1943 Daily Sentinel reported that he graduated from Clinton Central School where he was active in athletics.

Louis enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corp on December 10, 1941 through Utica, NY, just days after Pearl Harbor was attacked. His Army records listed him as living at 73 Pratt Avenue in Clark Mills, NY. He reported having completed 2 years of high school on his enlistment papers. His service number was 12030615. After training Louis was stationed at Geiger Field with the 570th Bomb Squadron, 390th Bomb Group (H).

During World War II, Geiger Field was employed as a group-training airfield for Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombardment units. The field also was used by the Air Technical Service Command as an aircraft maintenance and supply depot. In January 1943 the 390th Bombardment Group was activated at Geiger Field. On May 10, 1943 he was the Radio Operator aboard a B-17F, out of Geiger Field, Washington when it crashed killing all aboard. S/Sgt. Asmer was 25 years old. He was buried in the Calvary Cemetery, Utica, NY, in section 12. (Records on this crash may be in error, so care should be taken if researching this. The serial number of this plane may have been # 42-2983).

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3.

(Please see - http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org).

Can you help us write these stories? Together We Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of WWII fallen.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute, please contact Jim Greenberg at jim.greenberg@oneonta.edu.

SBTSProject/New York/Oneida

Sources

"5 Airmen Dead in Sprague Plane Crash", The Spokesman-Review, May 11, 1943, pg. 1.

390th Memorial Museum, accessed at https://www.390th.org/visit/bomb-group/ on September 21, 2025.

"Clark Mills S-Sgt. Louis Asmer Killed in Crash", Daily Sentinel, Rome, NY, May 11, 1943, pg. 6.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/200367436/louis_j-asmer: accessed September 21, 2025), memorial page for SSGT Louis J. Asmer (21 Jan 1918–10 May 1943), Find a Grave Memorial ID 200367436, citing Calvary Cemetery, Utica, Oneida County, New York, USA; Maintained by PaPasgirl (contributor 48623246).

Fold3, US, World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 (https://www.fold3.com/publication/831/us-wwii-army-enlistment-records-1938-1946 : accessed Sep 21, 2025), database and images, https://www.fold3.com/publication/831/us-wwii-army-enlistment-records-1938-1946

"Sgt. Louis Asmer Dies in Fall of Army Bomber", The Clinton Courier, May 13, 1943, pg. 1.

Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Death Index, 1940-2017

Year: 1930; Census Place: Whitestown, Oneida, New York; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0175; FHL microfilm: 2341357

Supporting Documents