Walter E. Stuhl
Rank: Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army
Serial: 32360522
Unit: 545th Bomber Squadron, 384th Bomber Group (Heavy)
Entered service from: New Jersey
Died:
Awards: Purple Heart
Biography
Technical Sergeant Walter E. Stuhl was born in New Jersey in 1921, the son of August and Marie Stuhl. Growing up in Gloucester City, he spent his early years living on Central Avenue, near First Avenue, in a home his parents shared with his paternal grandparents and younger uncles and aunts. His father, who worked in a garage, later relocated the family to 441 Hunter Street, Gloucester City. Walter Stuhl had married Eliza Stewart prior to going overseas, and they had lived at 317 Thompson Street in Paulsboro, New Jersey. He had completed three years of high school prior to going to work.
Inducted into the Army at Camden, New Jersey on August 25, 1942, Walter Stuhl qualified for flight duty. Trained in aerial gunnery, he served as a top turret gunner, part of a B-17 bomber crew commanded by First Lieutenant Edward A. Fioretti.
Technical Sergeant Stuhl was killed in action. His aircraft, a B-17-G (serial number 42-38112), was shot down during the raid on the ball bearing works at Schweinfurt, Germany on April 13, 1944. His was one of nine planes the 384th Bomb Group lost in that raid.
Technical Sergeant Stuhl was survived by his parents, his wife, a daughter Cheryl Ann Stuhl whom he had never seen, a brother William, and sisters May, Alice, and Doris. He was 23 at the time of his death, according to the September 8, 1944 edition of the Camden Courier-Post.