Throughout these pages you will encounter the abbreviation IDPF :
[ Individual Deceased Personnel File ]
Eugene James Redinger grew up in the area of Pompton Lakes, New Jersey.
His parents were George Redinger and Rhuea Cooper Redinger.
He attended Pompton Lakes High School and participated in several
sports.
Prior to enlistment worked for Dupont in Pompton Lakes.
His future wife, Irene Pfingstel, attended Butler High School, graduating
in 1941.
Her photo is at the bottom of this page.
Lt Redinger and Irene were married in January 1944
while he was stationed at Hendricks AAF, Florida.
The map shows the areas where they lived in New Jersey.
Based on his Enlistment Record from the National Archives,
he joined the Army Air Force in October 1941.
Following basic training he went through several pilot training schools
as an Aviation Cadet.
Lt Redinger was commissioned as a 2nd Lt in June 1943.
A list of his stations is in Page 2
In early 1944 Lt Redinger was transferred to Clovis AAF, New Mexico.
At an unknown date he was assigned to the
Capt Elmer Hahn crew and their B-29 training continued at
Pratt AAF Kansas until September 1944.
They arrived at Saipan during October 1944 and began flying missions
shortly thereafter.
Their B-29 was shot down during Capt Hahn's 15th mission, 27 January
1945.
Some details are in the
Capt
Elmer Hahn Crew
and
73rd Bomb
Wing Mission # 22
sections.
Four of the crew survived and were taken to
the Eastern District Kempei Tai HQ in Tokyo.
One of them died shortly thereafter.
The other three were transferred to Tokyo Military Prison in March
1945.
During the B-29 mission to Tokyo the night of 25-26 May
the prison caught fire.
All of the Japanese prisoners were released.
None of the 62 POWs survived.
Of these, 25 were identified by 1950.
The status of the remaining 37 is
Killed in Action - Remains Non Recoverable
The below sections offer additional insights to the efforts made by
the
Office of the Quartermaster General
to identify all of the Prisoners of War.
Non-Recoverable
Remains , Correspondence
, and Official
Documents
---------------
Below is Eugene Redinger's registration card.
In Page 2 is his Enlistment Record and a list of Lt Redinger's stations
Pages 3 and 4 have newspaper clippings
