| Notes |
- Lititz Record-Express, Lititz, Pa., April 5, 1945, p. 8:
"Technical Sgt. Luther L. Hackman, twenty-one, of the Army Air Forces, missing in action over Germany since Nov. 25, 1944, was reportedly killed, presumably on that day, the War Department notified his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hackman, of Lititz, R. 1.
The telegram said that the information that it received was relayed by the International Red Cross from the German government.
Sgt. Hackman entered the service in February, 1943, and had been overseas, based in England, as a radioman and gunner on a B-24 Liberator bomber, since September 1944. He had been decorated with the Air Medal with one Oak Leaf cluster.
A graduate of the Warwick Township High School, Sgt. Hackman had completed his first year at Franklin and Marshall before his induction.
Besides his parents, he is survived by a sister, Doris, at home."
Note: There is a memorial stone erected at Jerusalem Lutheran Church in Rothsville, Pa. Family Memorial
Luther was the son of Charles C. and Estella (Leeking) Hackman, born Jan. 29, 1923. He graduated from Warwick High School in 1941, and attended Franklin and Marshall College for one year before being inducted into the US Army Air corps on February 11, 1943. In September 1944 he was deployed to England with the 493rd Bomb Group at Debach, Suffolk, England.
From May through December of 1944, Hackman’s 493rd Bomb Group, 861st Bomb Squadron, flew 18 missions over Merseburg, Germany, in order to bomb a synthetic fuel factory. Merseberg is west of Leipzig and deep in the heart of Germany. The campaign resulted in the loss of 157 B-17s with 665 crew members killed or missing and 822 captured as prisoners of war.
Luther was radioman and gunner on 2Lt. John M. Miller’s B-17 named Proud Pappy when that bomber was shot down over Germany on November 25, 1944. The flight began smoothly but weather was bad over the target and flak was heavy.
Proud Pappy was hit and exploded over Muschwitz, which is about 30 km southeast of Merseberg. Seven crewmembers, including Hackman, were killed and two others were taken prisoner. The bodies were buried in the village cemetery and exhumed after the war to be reinterred in the American Cemetery in Lorraine.
Thank you John Dewasme for the research on Luther's unit.
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1923 - 1944 (21 years)
