WW2 Fallen - B-17 gunner Frank Schwagel and controversial Confederate general namesake

Staff Sergeant Frank Schwagel was a waist gunner in the 335th Bombardment Squadron shown above.
http://www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/883
http://95thbg.org/j3migr/95thbg-history/bomb-squadrons/335th-bomb-squadron
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=132763829&ref=acom 

Francis Raymond "Frank" Schwagel never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

He was born on October 25, 1917 in Minnesota. His parents Frank and Franciska were also both born in Minnesota. His father's parents were from Austria. His father worked as a farmer. Frank had seven older sisters and three older brothers. He also had one younger sister.

He enlisted in the Army Air Forces and became a staff sergeant and B-17 waist gunner in the 335th Bombardment Squadron, 95th Bombardment Group.

On June 13, 1943 Sgt. Schwagel's plane was part of a mission of 76 bombers sent to bomb naval facilities at Kiel. For the first and only time during the war the 95th BG used a "Forrest formation." Instead of the standard box formation, the 26 planes from the 95th BG came in wingtip to wingtip. It lost 10 of it's planes, the highest percentage loss from one bomb group on one mission at that point in the war. One of those killed was Nathan Bedford Forrest III, the brigadier general in command of the 95th BG (His great-grandfather was the controversial calvary Confederate general who shared his name). It turned out that lining up bombers like a calvary charge was a bad idea. 

Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest III
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4834

Sgt. Schwagel's plane collided with another B-17 over the Baltic Sea  just northwest of Kiel and crashed into the water. Nobody on either plane survived.

His cenotaph grave is at St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church Cemetery in Richmond, Minnesota.

Thank you Frank for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Frank.

On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!

I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.

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