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Tablets of the Missing, Margraten, The Netherlands


[The Sandusky Register, Sandusky, OH, Wednesday, March 20, 1946, Page 2]

HEAR SON OFFICIALLY DEAD
   NORWALK, March 20 --- Mr. and Mrs. George Opfer of Wakeman have received a letter from the adjutant general stating that their son, Corp. Carl Opfer, who was reported missing since Jan. 31, 1945, had been declared officially dead as of March 1, 1946.  Corp. Opfer, a paratrooper of Cp. C, 508th Inf., was taken prisoner by the Germans in September of 1944.

[Jumpmaster note:  Pfc Opfer reportedly died while a Prisoner of War in Stalag 3C but his remains were never identified]


Entry on the Tablets of the Missing, Margraten, The Netherlands

PFC Carl Opfer was captured by German troops on 17 September 1944, and became a prisoner of war held at Stalag IIIC, near the town of Alt-Drewicz bei Kustrin in Brandenburg, Germany (now part of Poland).

On 31 January 1945, as Russian Red Army troops approached, the guards ordered all POWs to evacuate the camp. Unfortunately, the prisoners were marched directly into a Russian armor unit which, believing them to be hostile, opened fire. Several American POWs were killed in the crossfire between Russian troops and German guards.

One of these was PFC Opfer, who reportedly suffered a gunshot wound in the back.

Unfortunately, his remains (and those of ten other American POWs from various units who were killed in the same incident) have never been recovered.

[source: PFC Opfer's Individual Deceased Personnel File]