Philip J. Lange

Rank: Corporal, U.S. Army

Serial: 11138677

Unit: 114th Base Unit

Entered service from: New Jersey

Died: December 15, 1944

Buried at: Lakeview Memorial Park, Cinnaminson, New Jersey

Corporal Philip J. Lange was born on October 21, 1925, the son of Philip J. and Catherine Tryon Lange. His father was a World War I veteran who worked as a carpenter and building contractor. At the time of the 1930 census, the Lange family—which included Philip’s twin brother George and younger sister Elizabeth—lived at 28 Yale Road in Audubon, New Jersey.

Philip J. Lange had graduated from high school when he enlisted in the United States Army at Camden, New Jersey, on April 12, 1944. He qualified for flight duty and was training as an aerial gunner aboard B-24J Liberator #42-50992 when it crashed due to engine fires and engine failures, four miles south of Hardeeville, South Carolina, across the river from Chatham Army Airfield. Seven other Army airmen also perished in the crash: the pilot, Second Lieutenant Francis W. Johnson; Second Lieutenant David F. Bheam Jr.; Second Lieutenant Charles E. Downing; Flight Officer Alfred Alegria; Corporal William D. Brookey Jr.; Corporal Barney B. Purdon; and Corporal William G. Specht.

Corporal Lange is memorialized on the monument at the American Legion Post in the center of Audubon. He was survived by his parents and siblings.