JUECKSTOCK, FERDINAND A July 11, 1944 age 18 DNB Texas

FERDINAND ALPHONSE JUECKSTOCK  b. July 20, 1925 Ontario, Canada d. July 11, 1944

Died Non Battle El Paso, Texas

Pfc 36889915 Army Biggs Field, TX

Buried Detroit

Parents: Ferdinand Herman & Florence Ida May (Thrower)

Siblings: Mary Ann (Tomchick), Susie (Webb)

Young Ferdinand and his mother were born in Canada. The two older girls and the father were all born in Michigan. In 1930 father Ferdinand was a real estate broker and mother Flo an insurance sales agent, very unusual at that time. Expect the real estate business was bad in the 1930’s and by 1940 Ferdinand was a metal heater for a car company. Both sisters were married and out of the house by 1940 when the Jueckstocks lived at 10811 Outer Dr, now gone.

 

Ferdinand did his draft registration July 26, 1943 in Detroit as a naturalized citizen. He was 198 lbs, 5’11” with blue eyes brown hair. He was stationed at Biggs Field, Texas. On July 11, 1944 he was the gunner on a routine training flight. It was a night flight. Several military personnel and nearby El Paso residents saw the plane crash. One resident who was sitting on his front lawn with neighbors at the time said: “I watched the plane and knew it would never make the mountain. The plane was not having motor trouble, but it just didn’t have enough elevation. We noticed that, after the plane’s lights revealed the nearness of the mountain, it tried to gain altitude, but it was too close to the mountain.” It hit the mountain squarely then there were 3 or 4 explosions. It was 11:07 pm. They saw the burning plane which leaped hundreds of feet into the air. Ferdinand death certificate describes the burns over his entire body.

A 13 foot white iron cross was placed on the east side of Mt. Franklin marking the spot where the eight Army fliers lost their lives. The cross was erected by Manhattan Presbyterian Church, Manhattan Baptist Church and Boy Scouts Troop 33. The names of the airmen were painted on a heavy steel plate which had formed the back of the pilot’s seat; it was found by the group when they ascended the mountain to erect the cross. Names of the airman killed were painted on the plate. The 210 lb cross, cement, water and other materials were carried to the site by crewmen from Biggs Field, relatives and others in Sept 1944.

A weathered cross which may have been the original was gone either from wind or vandals and a new cross placed there. Satellite photos show what looks to be the steel plate on an outcrop just down the top of the ridge from the KTSM-FM antenna.