1st Lt. Henry Albert Kaul was born in Forest Park, Illinois, on December 9, 1922, to Henry W. Kaul and Martha A. Kaeppel-Kaul and had one sister. The family resided at 125 South Harlem Avenue in Forest Park and his father was elected mayor of Forest Park three times. He graduated from Saint John’s Lutheran School and Proviso Township High School in 1940. After high school, he was self-employed and working at Ellington Field (16 inch softball field) in Forest Park. On February 19, 1942, he married Myrle Viola Johnson and on June 30th he registered with Selective Service and named his father as his next of kin. He also was working at Amertorp in Forest Park, which produced torpedoes for the Navy.
Henry enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in January 31, 1943, and was appoint an air cadet on July 2, 1943, and sent for air cadet training at Douglas, Georgia. It is known that he was sent to Cochran Field, Macon, Georgia, for additional training and completed basic flight instruction. In a message to his local newspaper, The Forest Park Review and Forest Parker, he said, “I’m in basic training now, having gotten through primary O.K. Flying these ships is like driving half a dozen automobiles at once. A maze of dials, switches, and levers stare the pilot in the face.” Next he was sent to Jackson Army Airfield for Advanced Pilot School and trained to fly a P-51. He graduated, received his commission as a second lieutenant in March 1944, and was issued the serial number O 825 449. He visited his parents, with his wife, before he went overseas and assigned to 336th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force. The 4th Fighter Group was formed originally from American pilots who had fought in Royal Air Force before the Unites States entered the war. Myrle Kaul gave birth to baby girl in July 1944.
What is known is that Henry took part in 36 bombing missions over Germany. According to available information, on February 11, 1945, Henry was strafing a German column of fourteen trucks and could not pull his plane up high enough to pull his plane above the treetops and clipped them. This resulted in his plane crashing along the Asendorf-Nienburg Road near Greue Commons, Germany.
On February 27, 1945, a telegram was sent by the Office of the Quartermaster General, Washington DC, sent a telegram to his wife.
MRS MYRLE V. KAUL
1039 PLEASANT STREET
OAK PARK ILLINOIS
THE SECRETARY OF WAR DESIRES ME TO EXPRESS HIS DEEP REGRET THAT YOUR HUSBAND FIRST LIEUTENANT HENRY A KAUL HAS BEEN REPORTED MISSING IN ACTION SINCE ELEVEN FEBRUARY OVER GERMANY PERIOD IF FURTHER DETAILS OR OTHER INFORMATION ARE RECEIVED YOU WILL BE PROMPTLY NOTIED PERIOD
ULIO
THE ADJUTANT GENERAL
The telegram was followed by a letter.
Mrs. Myrle V. Kaul
1039 Pleasant Street
Oak Park, Illinois
Dear Mrs. Kaul:
This letter is to confirm my recent telegram in which you were regretfully informed that your husband, First Lieutenant Henry A. Kaul, O, 825, 449, Air Corps, has been reported missing in action since 11 February 1945 over Germany.
I know that added distress is caused by failure to receive some information or details. Therefore, I wish to assure you that at any time additional information is received it will be transmitted to you without delay, and, if in the meantime no additional information is received, I will again communicate with you at the expiration of three months. Also, it is the policy of the Commanding General of the Army Air Forces upon receipt of the “Missing Air Crews Report” to convey to you any details that might be contained in that report.
The term “missing in action” is used only to indicate that the whereabouts or status of an individual is not immediately known. It is not intended to convey the impression that the case in closed. I wish to emphasize that every effort is exerted continuously to clear up the status of our personnel. Under war conditions this is a difficult task as you must readily realize. Experience has shown that many persons reported missing in action are subsequently reported prisoners of war, but as this information is furnished by countries with which we are at war, the War Department is helpless to expedite such reports. However, in order to relieve financial worry, Congress has enacted legislation which contains in force pay, allowances and allotments to dependents of the personnel being carried in a missing status.
Permit me to extend to you my heartfelt sympathy during this period of uncertainty.
Sincerely yours,
(signed)
J. A. ULIO
Major General
The Adjutant General.
It is not known when his wife was notified that Henry was dead.
After the war, the American Graves Registration Service had the job of recovering the dead. A team was sent to Hoya, Germany, to see if there was any knowledge of American pilots being buried in the area. A local carpenter, Grimm Dietrich, told the team that he used to be a casket maker employed by the German Luftwaffe at the local airfield. He stated that he helped place dead American pilots in coffins he made, but he did not know what the Luftwaffe did with the identification tags. The dead Americans were then taken to the local Jewish cemetery – also known as Hoya/Weser Cemetery – and buried on February 13, 1945.
Henry’s remains appear to have been disinterred in early May 1946 from Row 2, Grave 9 in the Hoya/Weser Cemetery. On his chest was found one of his government issued identification tags with his name on it. It was also reported that on the pilot’s jacket the body was wearing was the name H. A. Kaul 0-825 449. His name was also found on the wool undershirt, his underpants, and the waistband of the pants. In all, it appears that the remains of nine Americans were found buried in the cemetery. Henry’s remains were taken to the United States Military Cemetery, Neuville-Condroz, Belgium, and on May 14, 1946, buried in Plot P, Row 1, Grave 19.
In a letter dated January 15, 1948, his wife was informed of her options for Henry’s final burial. She was asked to fill-out an enclosed form and return it to the Office of the Quartermaster General, Washington DC. The form was received by the OQMG on February 17, 1948, and indicated that Myrle Kaul wanted her husband to be buried in an American Military Cemetery. On March 30, 1949, 1st Lt. Henry A. Kaul was buried in Plot D, Row 13, Grave 45 in the USMC Neuville, Belgium. His wife received a confirmation letter dated May 3, 1949.
1st Lt. Henry A. Kaul, ASN: O 825 449
Plot D, Row 13, Grave 45
Headstone: Cross
Neuville-en-Condroz (Belgium
U. S. Military Cemetery
Mrs. Myrle V. Kaul
1039 Pleasant Street
Oak Park, Illinois
This is to inform you that the remains of your beloved ones have been permanently interred, as the recorded above, side by side with comrades who also gave their lives for their country. Customary military funeral services were conducted over the grave at the time of burial.
After the Department of the Army has completed all final interments, the cemetery will be transferred, as authorized by the Congress, to the care and supervision of the American Battle Monuments Commission. The commission will also have the responsibility for permanent construction and beautification of the cemetery, including erection of the permanent headstone. The headstone will be inscribe with the name exactly recorded above, the rank or rating where appropriate, organization, State, and date of death. Any inquiries relative to the type of headstone or the spelling of the name to be inscribed thereon, should be addressed to the American Battle Monuments Commission, Washington 25, D. C. Your letter should include the full name, rank, serial number, grave location, and name of the cemetery.
While interment and beautification activities are in progress, the cemetery will not be open to visitors. You may rest assured that this final interment was conducted with fitting dignity and solemnity and that the grave-site will be carefully and conscientiously maintained in perpetuity by the United States Government.
Sincerely yours,
(signed)
H. FELDMAN
Major General
The Quartermaster General
Myrle Kaul did not remarry until 1961.
