Skip to content

August C. Baetzhold, Jr.

NAME
August Charles Baetzhold, Jr.
NICKNAME
SERVICE NUMBER
O-11848
UNIT
VMSB-243
Pilot
HOME OF RECORD
494 Best Street, Buffalo, NY
NEXT OF KIN
Mother, Mrs Virginia M. Baetzhold
DATE OF BIRTH
April 16, 1921
at Buffalo, NY
ENTERED SERVICE
June 19, 1941 (enlisted)
July 15, 1942 (commissioned)
DATE OF LOSS
March 1, 1943
REGION
Hawaiian Islands
CAMPAIGN / AREA
Oahu
CASUALTY TYPE
Non-Battle Death
CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS
Second Lieutenant August C. Baetzhold, Jr. was a Marine dive-bomber pilot assigned to VMSB-243.

On 1 March 1943, Lt. Baetzhold and radio/gunner Corporal Paul O’Brien, were participating in a routine dive-bombing practice flight about four miles south of Barber’s Point, Oahu. Their target was mauevering boat. The plane nosed over into its dive at 0850, and Baetzhold appeared to struggle with the controls. He hit the water at a thirty-degree angle and disappeared almost immediately.

A pair of minesweepers arrived on the scene minutes later to search for survivors but found only small pieces of floating wreckage. Neither Baetzhold nor O’Brien were recovered, and both were reported killed in the accident.

INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS
LAST KNOWN RANK
Second Lieutenant
STATUS OF REMAINS
Not recovered
MEMORIALS
Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY
Honolulu Memorial

Biography:
Contact the webmaster for more information about this Marine.

Weep not, oh mother of great sorrow,
‘Tis only the day, and not the morrow.
Life was begun on a noble plan,
From death to life is only a span.
In stealthy silence with hardly a sound,
They broke off the bars that had them bound
To petty duties and petty life
To petty people and petty strife.
And now since those cramping bars are broken
They saw a light – a glorious token,
Shining afar in a distant place
So on they ran to finish the race.
Thus they spanned from darkness to light
To live forever on a glorious height.
Poem in memory of Lt. Baetzhold
written by his buddy Lt. James T. Swiger,
was read at his memorial service on 7 April 1943.

Articles & Records:

Baetzhold with his squadronmates, 1943. Photo from VMSB243.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *