Birch, Paul E.

1919 - 1991  (72 years)

• Name	Birch, Paul E.
  Birth	2 Jan 1919
  Gender	Male
  Reference Number	BIRC.P001
  _FGRAVE	18377640
  Military Service	World War II, Captain, United States Army Air Forces  [1]
  	Enlisted for the Air Corps on September 26, 1941 at Scott Field, Illinois. Attended The Air Corps Technical School of Armament at Lowery Field, Colorado. Became an Aviation Cadet and was honorably discharged from that program at Lowery Field on March 2, 1942 to accept a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. Entered active service again on March 3, 1942 and trained as an Armament and Chemical Officer. Departed the Continental U.S. on July 16, 1942 bound for Palestine. Participated in The Air Offensive Europe and The Egypt-Libya, Tunisia, Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno and Southern France Campaigns. Earned The Bronze Star Medal, The Presidential Unit Citation With One Oak Leaf Cluster, The American Defense Service Medal, The American Campaign Medal, The European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with seven bronze battle stars and The WWII Victory Medal. Returned to the U.S. on October 24, 1944. Honorably discharged as a Captain from Headquarters, Page Field CCTS-F-SQ T, Fort Myers, Florida on August 7, 1945 at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. (This information has been posted on the National World War II Memorial's Registry of Remembrances website by Robert Medley Gatewood. It is entered here with his permission.) Source: https://wwiiregistry.abmc.gov/honoree-plaque/?honoree_id=1898103
  		World War II Honoree, Birch, Paul E. (1919-1991)
  		United States of America Flag, 48 Stars (1912-1959) In 1912, two stars were added to the United States flag, representing Arizona and New Mexico, bringing the total number of stars to 48. They were arranged in six rows of eight stars each. American fighting men would fight under this flag during four wars: World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the beginning of the Vietnam War. (In 1959,…
  		Paul E. Birch (1919-1991)
  		United States Army Air Corps
  		United States Army Air Corps
  		United States Army Air Forces
  		United States Army Air Forces
  		Captain (abbreviated as CPT) (paygrade O-3), United States Army and United States Air Force
  		Captain, United States Uniformed Services In the United States uniformed services, captain is a commissioned-officer rank. In keeping with the traditions of the militaries of most nations, the rank varies between the services, being a senior rank in the naval services and a junior rank in the ground and air forces. Many fire departments and police departments in the United States also…
  		United States Army Officer Rank Insignia
  		World War II (1939-1945)
  		Brochure, World War II Memorial, Flora, Illinois, Nov 11, 2007 On Veterans' Day, 2005, the city of Flora, Illinois dedicated a memorial to all known Clay County, Illinois World War II Veterans. Located on the south side of the city library, this is a copy of the brochure honoring that event. This 2007 brochure adds a matrix for locating the memorial brick that was laid in honor of each veteran. …
  Death	26 Dec 1991
  Burial	Ingraham Cemetery, Ingraham, Clay County, Illinois
  Person ID	I43213	Carl Wayne Gray Research
  Last Modified	8 Jun 2023

  
  

• Sources

  [S15035] World War II Honoree, Paul E. Birch, (https://wwiiregistry.abmc.gov/honoree-plaque/?honoree_id=1898103) (Reliability: 2).