Edward Raymond Petzold was born November 27, 1919 in St. Paul, Ramsey County Minnesota. His parents were Herman A. and Ada L. Hamergren Petzold. His father was born in Minnesota and was a Tax Accountant. His mother was born in Illinois. He had three brothers: older ones Herman Jr., Arthur and younger one Robert. Arthur was a B-24 Pilot in WWII with over 30 missions and returned home safely. He was married to fellow Macalester College graduate Carol Lloyd on February 12, 1944.

He was unemployed at the time he registered in July 1941. He then enlisted in the Army Air Forces and served during World War II. He had the rank of Second Lieutenant. Service number was 765887. Served with 438th Troop Carrier Group, 88th Squadron as a Co Pilot of C-47’s.

Petzold lost his life on December 23, 1944 his C-47A #42-92087 on a para pack resupply mission to Bastogne, Belgium suddenly dipped slightly and then fell into a vertical dive. During its descent, no one left the plane and witnesses said there was black smoke rising from the area in which the plane had crashed.

Edward R Petzold is buried at Plot F Row 13 Grave 18, Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Henri-Chapelle, Belgium. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location.

COMMENDATIONS

★ Air Medal

★ Purple Heart

Crew of C-47A #42-92087 incident on December 23, 1944:

Pilot: 1Lt Louis M Roberts, MA

Co Pilot: 2Lt Edward R Petzold, MN

Crew Chief: T/Sgt Jim W McDonald, TX

Radio Operator: S/Sgt Robert L Casperson, PA

Thank you for your supreme sacrifice in service to your country.

_This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project _https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

Sources:

https://www.ancestry.com/ - 1920, 1930, 1940 census, draft card

https://www.findagrave.com/

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php

https://www.fieldsofhonor-database.com/index.php/en/

www.americanairmuseum.com

www.newspapers.com