[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] |