Karl L. Stoltz

Rank: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Forces

Serial: O-796907

Unit: 490th Bomber Squadron, 341st Bomber Group, Medium

Entered service from: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Died: February 12, 1944

Burial: Missing in Action — Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines

Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart

Second Lieutenant Karl Ludwig Stoltz was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 16, 1919 to Charles and Frances Stoltz. The family was still in Philadelphia when sister Natalie was born in 1924. The Stoltz family had moved to Mt. Holly by April of 1930 and were still there as late as 1935. By 1940 they had moved to Atlantic City. At some point in time, Karl L. Stoltz established ties to Audubon, New Jersey.

On April 28, 1942 Karl Stoltz enlisted in the United States Army in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He qualified for flight duty, and went overseas in September of 1943, assigned to the 490th Bomber Squadron, 341st Bomber Group, Medium, which was based in India and was conducting operations against Japanese forces in Burma.

On February 12, 1944, 30-plus P-51 fighters and B-25 bombers hit camps between Tsumhpawng Ga and Walawbum, the storage area and motor pool south of Kamaing, a motor convoy on the Myitkyina-Sumprabum road, the town of Namting and bridges at Meza and Kanni. Second Lieutenant Stoltz was lost during this mission along with First Lieutenant Donald C. Mac Donald, First Lieutenant Donald E. Whitmer, and Staff Sergeant David Henry Hutchinson. Their bodies have not been recovered.