Alphonse Kech

September 28, 1921 – August 4, 1944

Alphonse J. Kech was born in 1921 in Cook County, Illinois. His father, was Alphonse Leibundguth Kech; his mother was Cecelia Benedicts (Artman) Kech. He had four brothers.

Alphonse enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a private on 30 January 1943 in Miami Beach. He was selected for flight school, and received a commission as a Second Lieutenant before joining the 95th Bomb Group at RAF Horam in Suffolk, England.

On his fourth mission, 2LT Kech died saving the lives of eight fellow crewmen after their B-17 was disabled by anti-aircraft fire over Hamburg, Germany, on 4 August 1944. As co-pilot, 2LT Kech stayed at the controls while the rest of the crew bailed out. However, the crippled aircraft exploded before 2LT Kech could escape.

2LT Kech’s body was found in the burnt wreckage that crashed near the village of Poggemühlen in Lower Saxony, Germany. The rest of his crew were taken prisoner and transported to Stalag Luft Vier (Luftwaffe Prison Camp No. 4) near modern-day Tychowo, Poland.

After the war, Alphonse's remains were re-buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial near Liège, Belgium. He was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56359070/alphonse-j-kech