PFC Frank X. Baur

Private First Class (PFC) Frank Xavier Baur of Headquarters Battery, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (PFAB), was born in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, to Frank A. and Elizabeth H. (Gibson) Baur on April 6, 1920. He had six brothers, Mathew, William, Albert, Paul, Charles, and Raymond Baur, and five sisters, Ruth, June, Joan, Lorraine, and Janette Baur.

Frank signed up for the draft in Philadelphia on July 1, 1941. At the time, he worked as a truck driver at Baur Brothers in his hometown, which may have been the company his father owned. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in Fort George G. Mead, Maryland, on February 21, 1942. Frank volunteered for paratroop duty and was assigned to the 377th PFAB.

On the morning of D-Day, PVT Baur was dropped somewhere in Normandy. He was supposed to land on Drop Zone A, but it is unknown where he landed because the sticks of the 377th were scattered all over the Normandy Peninsula. The majority of the planes dropped their sticks north of Valognes, in the vicinity of Montebourg, and even as far north as Morsalines and Cherbourg. Of the 54 planes, only one dropped its men near DZ A.

PVT Baur's fate is unknown. He was declared Killed in Action on June 7, 1945, a year after he had become Missing in Action.

Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅

PFC Frank Baur died at the age of 24. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart Medal. His name is mentioned on the Wall of Missing at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France.

The fact that his body was never recovered must have been an agonizing situation for his parents and siblings. May they have found peace in their hearts with the terrible loss of Frank.

Happy Birthday in Heaven, Frank. May you rest in peace.

Lest we forget. 🇺🇸

The sources used for this article are known to the author and available on request.