WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - 2nd Lt Charles Lowell Stuckman

 

2nd Lieutenant Charles Lowell Stuckman

Born in Hicksville, Defiance County, on February 17, 1922, Charles was the son of Tellis Stuckman and Vera A. (Pollock) Stuckman. A 1940 graduate of Hicksville High School, he went by the name of "Lowell," in those days, and he was quite active in many different activities.

On April 20, 1942, Charles enlisted into the Army Air Force at Baer Field, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and then he was sent to Nashville for training. Further training occurred at Maxwell Field, Alabama where he stayed until February 1943. He was assigned to the 67th Flying Training Detachment at Union City, Tennessee, and then at Courtland, Alabama, until May 1943. On November 10, 1943, he was sent to Lincoln, Nebraska, and further assigned to the 790th Bomb Squadron, then to the 67th Bomb Group at Wendover Field, a unit that was preparing to go overseas.

Charles flew the ferry route to England, Trinidad, Brazil, Morocco and Wales and then to the 467th base at Rackheath, Norfolk, England. 

His first mission on his B-24 Liberator was on April 10, 1944, to Bourges, France. 

His second and last mission on April 11, 1944, was to Oschersleben,, Germany. Coming home from the mission and flying low over England, the B-24's control cables snapped, and the bomber crashed near Stalham, England, where he perished.

Charles had reached the rank of 2nd Lieutenant and was awarded

the Purple Heart.

 

                                        Liberator B-24, four engine bomber, widely used in WW II

On August 23, 1943, Charles married Betty Blythe Altman when he was 21, who was left a widow with no children. Her name was mentioned in some obituaries, but not the one below.

The Sherwood Chronicle - July 22, 1948, page 1: 

"RITES TO BE HELD FRIDAY FOR LT. CHARLES STUCKMAN

Private services will be conducted tomorrow (Friday) afternoon from the Perkins and Reeb Funeral Home in Hicksville, for Lt. Charles L. Stuckman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Tellis Stuckman, who was killed in a plane crash on April 11, 1944, over England following a mission over Germany 

The remains arrived in Hicksville yesterday.

Rev. Donald Mumma will preside at the rites, with public graveside ceremonies to be performed by the American Legion and VFW posts.

Lt. Stuckman was the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Stuckman of near Sherwood, and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Pollock, Ney.  Other survivors in addition to the parents include a twin brother, Loren, and two sisters, Mrs. Marjorie Griffith and Mrs. Gerald McCartney, all of Hicksville."

Graveside rites were held at the Forest Home Cemetery in HIcksville.

Mary Williams, Researcher