Edward Frederick Gaier (1918-1944)

This is the second biography in the WWII Hometown Newspaper Collection Project. The purpose of this project is to document the stories of individuals who served in WWII or were affected by WWII in some profound way. My portion of the project will focus specifically on those individuals from Auglaize, Darke, Mercer, and Shelby counties in Ohio.

This biography will be about Edward Frederick Gaier, my second cousin, 2x removed. 

Edward was born in Piqua, Miami County, Ohio on 25 March 1918 to Edward Mathias Gaier and Anna Mae Moyer Gaier. The 1920 US Census indicates that the family, consisting of Edward Sr. (age 31), Anna (age 37), Herald (age 8), Ruth (age 7), Sarah (age 4 years 11 months), Veronica (age 3 years 3 months), and Edward Jr. (age 1 year 9 months), owned their home at 1002 West North Street in Piqua, Ohio. Edward Sr. was a laborer at the packing house.

During the 1930 US Census, the family was living in the same home, which was valued at $4,000. The family also had a radio which was an important technological innovation of the time. The family at that time consisted of Edward Sr. (age 42), Anna (age 43), Harold (age 18), Ruth (age 17), Sarah (age 15), Verra (age 12), Edward (age 11), Betty (age 9), George (age 7), and Anna (age 5). Edward Sr. was a salesman for the S. Zollinger company at this time.

The 1940 US Census indicates that the family had moved to McLean Township, Shelby County, Ohio by 1935. Other evidence indicates that they moved to this location in the spring of 1935. At the time, the family consisted of Edward Sr. (age 51), Anna (age 53), Edward Jr. (age 22), Betty Jane (age 17), and Anna May (age 8). Edward Sr. was working as a salesman for the S. Zollinger company, a wholesale grocery. Edward Jr. had completed 1 year of college at the time. Edward Sr. died on 6 July 1941.

Edward graduated from Ft. Loramie High School in May 1938 and then worked at Monarch Machine Tool Company in Sidney, Ohio for four years. He also attended Ohio State University for two years. He married Ruth Kirner on 13 June 1942 at St. Michael's Church in Ft. Loramie. They had one child, a son. On 30 October 1942, he  enlisted in the Army Air Corps at Patterson Air Field in Fairfield, Ohio. This is now Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. After a short stay at Patterson Air Field, he was sent to Kessler Field in Mississippi and then to Chicago Technical School in Chicago, Illinois. He was trained to be a radioman and a gunner on a B-24 Liberator bomber with the 460th Bomber Group. After his training, he was sent to Kearn's Air Field in Salt Lake City, Utah where he earned the rank of Staff Sargent. His service also included short assignments at Buckingham Field in Fort Myers, Florida, Chatham Field in Savannah, Georgia, and Mitchell Field in New York before being sent oversees on 26 January 1944. While at Buckingham Field, he represented his unit in national gun shooting competitions and won a first in skeet range shooting and third in air-to-air battles at a meet in Kingman, Arizona. 

He was assigned to the 760th Bomber Squadron of the 460th Bomber Group. On 19 February 1944, while on a bombing mission over Italy, his B-24H Liberator (41-29339) crashed near Acerenza, Italy due to weather. S-Sgt Edward F. Gaier was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, in Piqua, Miami County, Ohio.

Sources:

• The Minster Post, Minster, Ohio, 17 March 1944, pages 1 and 3 (death)
• FamilySearch profile (9HHH-CHL)