Tech Sergeant Ralph E Olbert, born in Salt Lake City 21 Jul 1916, was the son of Norman and Bertha A (Patschek) Olbert of Durango, Colorado.

In the 1920 census 3-year-old Ralph is living with his parents and siblings Eleanor 2, and Richard 4 months, in Hesperus, La Plata County, Colorado. Hesperus is 11 mi west of Durango. His father is a farm laborer.

In the 1930 census 13-year-old Ralph is living with his parents and siblings Eleanor 12 and Richard 10, at 1435 W Third Ave., in Durango. His father is working in a filling station.

In the 1940 census 23-year-old Ralph is living as a lodger in the household of Ed Nunlist at 219 Lincoln Street in Santa Fe, NM. Ralph is the assistant manager of a FW Woolworth variety store.

Ralph enlisted in the Army Air Corps 11 Oct 1941 at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Tx. He’d had four years of high school and was single without dependents. His civil occupation was listed under retail managers. He was assigned to the 365th Bomb Squadron of the 305th Bomb Group.

Ralph was a passenger observer on B-17 #42-29647 shot down near Meaulte, France 87 miles north of Paris on 13 May 1943. His US WWII American and Allied Prisoners of War file lists his status as: Executed or shot while attempting to escape.

Ralph’s younger brother Richard was killed in action in the Marine Raider Expedition against the Japanese-held island of Makin in the Gilbert Islands on 17 and 18 August 1942. He was awarded the Navy Cross.

Source: American Battle Monument Commission: Contributor Brian Jodi Kueker

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