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name
GOEMPEL, Frederick William Jr - Date of
birth
4 March 1926 -
Age
19 -
Place of birth
Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania -
Hometown
Homestead, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania -
Ethnicity
White
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
33925395 -
Rank
Private -
Function
unknown -
Unit
F Company,
2nd Battalion,
11th Infantry Regiment,
5th Infantry Division
-
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
10 February 1946 - Place of
death
2 miles north of Echternach, Luxembourg
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Luxembourg - Tablets of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Frederick Goempel Sr. (father)
Elizabeth M. (McKalvey) Goempel (mother)
Mary E. Goempel (sister)
Hilda M. Goempel (sister)
Robert H. Goempel (brother)
Regina A. Goempel (sister)
James F. Goempel (brother)
John J. Goempel (brother)
Paul P. Goempel (brother)
More information
Pvt Frederick W. Goempel Jr. was a student at the Central Catholic High School before he enlisted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 5 September 1944. He was sent overseas on 13 January 1945. He had joined his unit just nine days earlier.He was reported missing in action during the crossing of the Sauer River near Echternach, Luxembourg. A member of his company tought he had stepped in a minefield as the assault team landed on the far bank of the river and that he was obliterated by the explosion. Another man thought he could remember that he had been shot during the crossing and that he had drowned. There is no documentary evidence to support either of those claims. Given the very confused situation during the crossing and the fact that Pvt Goempel had only just been assigned to the company, both men could just as well have been mistaken about who they thought they had seen.
He was officially declared dead one day and one year after he was reported missing in action.
Source of information: Leo Minne, Raf Dyckmans, www.abmc.gov, www.ancestry.com, www.findagrave.com
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.findagrave.com - usafdo/ soilsister