Nicholas Papp
PFC Nicholas Papp was a Marine aviation radioman serving with Training Squadron 9 at Naval Air Station, Jacksonville.
He was killed in an airplane crash near Ormond Beach, Florida, on 6 April 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 421260
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
CONUS Loss
Because this individual died within the limits of the continental United States, they are not tracked by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
November 30, 1920
at Căuaș, Romania
Parents
Elizabeth Kovacs
Father unknown
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Palat Furs of Trenton, NJ
Service Life
Entered Service
July 20, 1942
at Philadelphia, PA
Home Of Record
306 Division Street
Trenton, NJ
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Kovacs
Military Specialty
Aviation radioman/gunner
Primary Unit
Training Squadron 9
NAS Jacksonville
Campaigns Served
None
Individual Decorations
—
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
PFC Nicholas Papp, a Marine aviator from New Jersey, trained as a radioman and gunner at Naval Air Station, Jacksonville. After qualifying in his new role, he was assigned temporary duty at the NAS Daytona Beach training center.
On 6 April 1943, PFC Papp departed Daytona Beach for a routine training flight. At 0900 hours, his aircraft was seen to enter a high-altitude dive and slam into the ocean. The cause of the mishap was not explained; neither Papp nor the pilot, Navy Ensign James Myron Wallace, escaped the plane before it sank.
Burial Information or Disposition
Crashed at sea; remains not recovered.
Memorials
None known.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Kovacs.
Location Of Loss
Approximate location of the crash, 8 miles offshore of Ormond Beach, Florida.
Nicholas Papp was my father’s older half brother and was 15 when Nicky’s plane went down. My grandmother had Nicky out-of-wedlock. She emigrated to the US and left him with her mother. When Nicky was 4 y/o he and his grandmother also came to the US. By that time my grandmother had met my grandfather and they were settled in Trenton. My father died 25 years later.
Until I saw this, I didn’t realize he was born in Romania. My grandmother came from a town that at the time was in Hungary but after WWII became part of Romania.