S/Sgt. Miles Lloyd Toepper was born in Forest Park, Illinois, on December 26, 1923, to J. Charles Toepper and Laura Toepper and had two sisters and two brothers. His family resided at 418 South Elgin Avenue in Forest Park. He graduated from Proviso Township High School, in Maywood, Illinois, in 1941. After high school, he worked at Chicago Title & Trust Company in Chicago, and attended Northwestern University Evening School.
Miles registered with Selective Service on June 27, 1942, and named his mother as his contact person. He was drafted into the Army on March 31, 1943, and issued the serial number 36 655 469. He at Camp Bowie, Texas, April 11. 1943 to June 9, 1943, and assigned to the 58th Tank Destroyer Battalion. He was then assigned to the 666th Tank Destroyer Battalion at Fort Hood, Texas. It was during this time that he appears to have volunteered to join the Air Corps. He was sent to Army Air Force Gunnery School Hartington, Texas. He was next at the 18th Replenishment Wing, Salt Lake City, Utah, before bring sent to El Paso, Texas. He was assigned to the 692nd Bomb Group, Alamogordo Field, New Mexico. During this time he qualified as a ball turret gunner.
Upon completion of his training, he was assigned to 856th Bomb Squadron, 492nd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force and went to England on the Queen Elizabeth. His unit flew B24 bombers. The bomb group was stationed in North Packenham, England. The bomb group took part in 34 bombing missions over occupied Europe. Miles first mission was on May 11, 1944.
On June 20, 1944, Miles bomber squadron was sent to bomb the oil refineries at Politz, Germany. During the mission, the squadron was attacked by German Me-410s, Ju-88s, Me-109s, and Me-110s. It is believed that a captured B-24 joined the formation and radio the planes position to the Luftwaffe. Mile’s plane was hit by rockets from Me-410s and Ju-88s. Many of the crew members bailed out. Miles bailed out but his parachute failed to open because he was too low. He suffered multiple fractures from hitting the ground. It was reported his body was disarticulated. His body was found in the vicinity of Saint Katherine’s Church, Stralsund, Germany, by civilians. His plane crashed into the Kibitzer Bodden, a part of the Baltic Sea, which is a channel between Stralsund and Rugen Island.
MIles was taken to the civilian cemetery t Stralsund, Germany, and buried in Row 2, Grave 11. His parents received a telegram from the War Department.
MRS LAURA TOEPPER
418 ELGIN AVENUE
FOREST PARK ILLINOIS
THE SECRETARY OF WAR DESIRES ME TO EXPRESS HIS DEEP REGRET THAT YOUR SON STAFF SERGEANT MILES L TOEPPER HAS BEEN REPORTED MISSING IN ACTION SINCE TWENTY JUNE IN EUROPEAN AREA PERIOD IF FURTHER DETAILS OR OTHER INFORMATION ARE RECEIVED YOU WILL BE PROMPTLY NOTIED PERIOD
ULIO
THE ADJUTANT GENERAL
A letter followed the telegram.
Mrs. Laura Toepper
418 Elgin Avenue
Forest Park, Illinois
Dear Mrs. Toepper:
This letter is to confirm my recent telegram in which you were regretfully informed that your son, Staff Sergeant Miles L. Toepper, 36 655 469, Air Corps, has been reported missing in action since 20 June 1944 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.
The German’s through the International Red Cross, on June 24, 1944, notified the War Department that five members of the plane’s crew were Prisoners of War and that Miles had been killed when the plane crashed. Near the end of July 1944, his mother received another telegram.
MRS LAURA TOEPPER
418 ELGIN AVENUE
FOREST PARK ILLINOIS
THE SECRETARY OF WAR ASKS THAT I ASSURE YOU OF HIS DEEP SYMPATHY IN THE LOSS OF YOUR SON STAFF SERGEANT MILES L TOEPPER WHO WAS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED MISSING IN ACTION REPORT NOW RECEIVED STATES HE WAS KILLED IN ACTION TWENTY JUNE IN GERMANY THE SECRETARY OF WAR EXTENDS HIS DEEP SYMPATHY LETTER FOLLOWS=
ULIO TTHE ADJUTANT GENERAL
The content of the letter is not known. His mother held a memorial service for Miles at St. John’s Church, Forest Park on Sunday, July 30, 1944.
His mother did not hear from the military again until April 4, 1946, when she received a letter telling her that at that time it had no information as to where he was buried. The American Graves Registration Service sent out teams to recover the dead from various cemeteries. A team arrived at St. Juergens Cemetery in Stralsund, Germany, on August 6, 1947, and found graves for five American airmen, eleven British airmen, one Canadian soldier, and one French soldier. They exhumed the Americans, which included Miles, and informed the other Allies of their dead. Miles remains were the only ones immediately identified and were taken to United States Military Cemetery, Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, and buried in Plot CC, Row 1, Grave 18.
At some point, Miles’ father, who was considered his next-of-kin by the military, received a letter telling him where Miles was buried and the location of his grave in the cemetery. He was informed that in another letter, he would be provided information on his options for Miles’ final burial. That letter, from the Office of the Quartermaster General, Washington DC, dated January 15, 1947, arrived and asked Charles Toepper to complete an enclosed form indicating where he wanted his son buried. The form was returned to the OQMG, dated February 3, 1948, indicating that Miles should be returned to Illinois for burial.
Miles was exhumed from his grave and his remains were taken by truck, on April 12, 1949, to Antwerp, where his remains were casketed. On April 22nd, his casket was placed on the USAT Haiti Victory which sailed the same day. The ship arrived in the New York Port of Entry on May 4th where his casket remained until May 11th, when his casket was sent by train, with a military escort, to the Quartermaster Corps’ Distribution Center #8, Chicago. His casket arrived there on May 16th. His casket remained at the center until June 8th when it was taken in a military hearse, with a military escort, to the Zimmerman and Son Funeral Home in Forest Park. On Saturday, June 11, 1949, a memorial service was held for S/Sgt. Miles L. Toepper at the funeral home. Afterwards, he was buried in the Forest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, next to his grandmother.
