Walter Francis Baran Jr. was born on December 28, 1921 in Brooklyn, NY to Walter Sebastian Baran (1887-1963) and Edna Fushi (abt. 1891–1928). I could not find records of when his parents were married but 1915 records show them married and living in Brooklyn, NY. By 1920 he had a sister named Florence who was born on October 14, 1916 in Brooklyn. Walter's mom died in May of 1928 in Windham, NY. By 1930 the family was living in Oneonta, NY. His father was a manager of A&P Grocery stores and within a year they had moved to Gloversville, NY. For a couple of years the family lived in a hotel then moved to Lexington Ave, in Gloversville, NY in 1932. Walter Jr. was a a member of the sea scouts and graduated from Estee Junior High School in 1937 and Gloversville High School in 1941.

By 1940 his dad had remarried to Anna Mae Funk (1885-1965) and soon after they moved to Tilton Avenue in Oneonta, NY. The 1942 Oneonta City Directory recorded his dad working as a manager for the A&P in Oneonta, NY. It is likely his dad and Anna Mae spent most of the rest of their lives in Oneonta as City Directories as late as 1961 record them both still living there.

Walter joined the National Guard in December of 1940 and was a member of Company M. In January 1941, after completing high school, he entered the Army Air Corps in Albany, NY. In February 1941 he reported to Barksdale, Louisiana for aviation mechanics training and for a while was stationed at Chenault Field, Illinois. His station of record at the time of his death was Stuttgart Army Airfield in Arkansas. He married Dorothy Sue Hopper “Susan” (1924-1974) daughter of Lt. Col. and Mrs. Ira C. Hopper on January 2 1943 in Polk, Florida. He was a Sargent by then.

Around the same time he was married he was transferred to Lockbourne Air Base near Columbus, Ohio where he was assigned to an aviation mechanical task which required him to do much flying.

Tragedy struck the newlyweds just days after their marriage. On January 25, 1943 a B-17C Flying Fortress #40-2042, with Sgt. Baran aboard, crashed northwest of New Albany, Ohio killing him and ten other crew members. Mrs. Baran was in route from Sebring to Columbus to join her husband when news of the crash was received. Sgt. Baran was awarded the World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation and Army Good Conduct Medal

According to the records at Linden Hill Cemetery (verified by email from Liza Bruno at Linden Hill), Sgt. Baran was buried on Jan. 30, 1943 in Linden Hill Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY. Section G, Lot 45, Grave RH1.

If you notice any errors or omissions from this story please contact us at nez13820@gmail.com.

Sources

“11 Men Die in Plane Crash Near Columbus”, The Dayton Herald, Dayton, OH, Jan. 26, 1943, pg. 2 accessed at https://www.newspapers.com/image/393091226, Jan. 14, 2022.

Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Bruno, Liza, Jan. 24, 2022, Linden Hill Cemetery employee, email verifying date of interment and location of grave.

Find A Grave, SGT Walter F Baran, #242009544, Ridgewood, Queens County, New York, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/242009544/walter-f-baran, accessed July 28,2022

Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920 database with images Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/publication/645/census-us-federal-1920: accessed September 6, 2022)

Individual Deceased Personnel File for Walter F. Baran, Service number 12005469, National Archives, St. Louis, MI.

National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, USA; Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946; NAID: 1263923; Record Group Title: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1789-ca. 2007; Record Group: 64; Box Number: 00761; Reel: 69

“One Survivor in Crash in Which Oneontan Died”, Oneonta Herald, Oneonta, NY, Jan. 28, 1943, pg. 1.

Walter F Baran : Sergeant from New York, World War II Casualty (honorstates.org)

"World War II Army Enlistment Records" database with images Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/publication/831/wwii-army-enlistment-records: accessed September 6, 2022),

https://www.fold3.com/record/83484009/walter-f-baran-wwii-army-enlistment-records "World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel, 1946" database with images Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/publication/893/wwii-army-and-army-air-force-casualtylist: accessed September 6, 2022) , https://www.fold3.com/image/310770526 rec=299516377&terms=12005469

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