Advertisement

LTC Ernst Philip “Ernie” Kiefel Jr.
Monument

Advertisement

LTC Ernst Philip “Ernie” Kiefel Jr. Veteran

Birth
Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, USA
Death
10 Feb 1966 (aged 32)
Laos
Monument
Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA GPS-Latitude: 21.3132305, Longitude: -157.8473358
Plot
Courts of the Missing
Memorial ID
View Source
In Memory of Col. Ernst Philip Kiefel, Jr.
*** Lieutenant Colonel Kiefel was a member of the 13th Bomber Squadron, Da Nang, South Vietnam. On February 10, 1966, he was the co-pilot/navigator of a Martin Canberra Bomber (B-57B) on a mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail about 5 miles east of Sepone, Savannakhet Province, Laos. The aircraft was making its second run of the target when it was struck by ground fire. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.


You may be gone, no longer living on this earth; but you will live on - in the memories of your family and friends. There will always be a part of you living in those who knew you. You will live on because we remember you!


ERNST PHILIP KIEFEL, JR. - Air Force - COL - O6
Age: 32
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth May 11, 1933
From: HARRISBURG, PA
Religion: UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
Marital Status: He was an only child. Married to Nancy Ann Raver Kiefel (Nancy never remarried). (Her Parents, Norman W. Raver and Esther R. Neff Raver). Daughters, Stephanie Ann Kiefel born June 3, 1963 in McLennan Co.,Tx. and ALOHA M KIEFEL Born August 12, 1966and Died May 19, 1993: 26 years, Dallastown, York County,PA. A brother,John A Kiefel.
Parents: Father, Ernst P. Kiefel and Mother, Claudine Z. Kiefel.
Paternal Grandfather was born in Germany and Paternal Grandmother was born in Ohio.

*** Lt. Col. Ernst P. Kiefel Jr. grew up in Lower Paxton Twp (Harrisburg) and graduated from John Harris High School in June 1951. He graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1955 with an ROTC commission in the US Air Force. He participated in High School and College Bands.
He attended Navigator training January 1956 - November 1956 at Harlingen Air Force Base, Texas, and remained as a navigation instructor.
He was married in August 1962. He and his wife, Nancy, had two daughters, Stephanie (1963) and Aloha (1966). Sadly, Aloha lost her life in a traffic accident in 1993.
He loved his family and never got to see his youngest daughter. He was an only child. Nancy never remarried.
Lt. Col. Kiefel was transferred to Waco Texas for overseas training for Viet Nam. He was assigned to the 13th Tactical Bomb Squadron at Clark Air Base, Philippines, and assumed duty there April 1965. His unit rotated between Clark AB and Viet Nam, mostly at Danang.
From his brother,
John A Kiefel

***** joyce bennett moody - I knew him and his wife Nancy
china spring, tx 76633 usa
I knew Ernie and his wife Nancy as we were roommates in college. We all felt that we had a part in their courtship. He was a neat guy and had an infectious smile. He loved his family and never got to see his youngest daughter. He died serving his country and we all benefited from it. He gave his life for us, however his family paid a supreme price for his loss. He was an only child. Nancy never remarried and his daughters never got to "really" know him or feel his protecting arms around them or go to visit his gravesite. I pray that someday they will recover his bones and bring them back home to Pa. With God's help and the use of dna this is not an impossible task. This will bring closure to his/their loss and he will once again "be on the green green grass of home". God bless America and patriots like him!

***** "United States Census, 1940"
Name: Ernst P Kiefel, Sr. - Daddy
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1940
Event Place: Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, United States
Gender: Male
Age: 46
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Head
Birthplace: Indiana
Birth Year (Estimated): 1894
Last Place of Residence: Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head Ernst P Kiefel M 46 Indiana
Wife Claudine Z Kiefel F 45 Indiana
~ ~ ~ ~ . Son Ernst P Kiefel M 6 Pennsylvania
Son John A Kiefel M 5 Pennsylvania





His tour began on Feb 10, 1966
Casualty was on Jan 15, 1979
In LZ, LAOS
Hostile, died while missing, FIXED WING - CREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND

Body was not recovered
Panel 05E - Line 23


On 10 Feb 1966, Captains Russell P. Hunter, pilot, and Ernst P. Kiefel, bombardier-navigator, departed Danang in B-57B for a visual bombing mission, working with a C-130 flareship.

The two aircraft were prosecuting a target near Ban Vangthon when, after his second bombing pass, Hunter reported an unspecified problem with his aircraft and that he and Kiefel were leaving the aircraft.

The C-130 observed the B-57's impact with the ground and SAR forces later located the wreckage, but no trace was found of either crewman.

The two men were classed as Missing in Action. Eventually the Secretary of the Air Force approved Presumptive Findings of Death for Lieutenant Colonel Hunter (20 June 1974) and Colonel Ernst Kiefel (15 Jan 1979).

Their remains have not been repatriated.





************
Kiefel, of Downingtown, was only one year behind his brother, Ernst Philip Kiefel Jr. Growing up in Lower Paxton Twp., they were best buddies: riding bikes, playing in bands, taking train trips to Philadelphia Phillies' games, attending Franklin & Marshall College.
"I remember him as always there, and we could always count on each other," Kiefel said. "Not that we didn't have disagreements, but we got along and just bonded in everything."
U.S. Air Force Capts. Russell Hunter and Ernst Kiefel were lost in February 1966, when the B-57 they crewed together went down during a bombing raid in Laos. They were declared killed in action in the 1970s. The details of their last moments are murky, and their bodies have never been repatriated.
Jamie Hunter and John Kiefel each always knew the name of his brothers' crewmate, but they finally made contact last year through the Virtual Wall, www.virtual wall.org, a website devoted to the dead and missing listed on the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.
In phone calls, they marveled over the coincidence that Hunter would move from his native Connecticut to the same township where the Kiefel brothers grew up.
"Can you say it was something that was meant to be?" Kiefel said.

In Sept. 17, the younger brothers who are bound by their shared loss met for the first time during a state ceremony recognizing prisoners of war and service members missing in action.

John Kiefel said he misses his brother and won't have closure until Ernst Kiefel's remains are home and "buried in his own cemetery." But the tree by the Capitol is a "sign of faith" toward service members who made the ultimate sacrifice, he said.


**********************************************
.

In Memory of Col. Ernst Philip Kiefel, Jr.
*** Lieutenant Colonel Kiefel was a member of the 13th Bomber Squadron, Da Nang, South Vietnam. On February 10, 1966, he was the co-pilot/navigator of a Martin Canberra Bomber (B-57B) on a mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail about 5 miles east of Sepone, Savannakhet Province, Laos. The aircraft was making its second run of the target when it was struck by ground fire. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.


You may be gone, no longer living on this earth; but you will live on - in the memories of your family and friends. There will always be a part of you living in those who knew you. You will live on because we remember you!


ERNST PHILIP KIEFEL, JR. - Air Force - COL - O6
Age: 32
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth May 11, 1933
From: HARRISBURG, PA
Religion: UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
Marital Status: He was an only child. Married to Nancy Ann Raver Kiefel (Nancy never remarried). (Her Parents, Norman W. Raver and Esther R. Neff Raver). Daughters, Stephanie Ann Kiefel born June 3, 1963 in McLennan Co.,Tx. and ALOHA M KIEFEL Born August 12, 1966and Died May 19, 1993: 26 years, Dallastown, York County,PA. A brother,John A Kiefel.
Parents: Father, Ernst P. Kiefel and Mother, Claudine Z. Kiefel.
Paternal Grandfather was born in Germany and Paternal Grandmother was born in Ohio.

*** Lt. Col. Ernst P. Kiefel Jr. grew up in Lower Paxton Twp (Harrisburg) and graduated from John Harris High School in June 1951. He graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1955 with an ROTC commission in the US Air Force. He participated in High School and College Bands.
He attended Navigator training January 1956 - November 1956 at Harlingen Air Force Base, Texas, and remained as a navigation instructor.
He was married in August 1962. He and his wife, Nancy, had two daughters, Stephanie (1963) and Aloha (1966). Sadly, Aloha lost her life in a traffic accident in 1993.
He loved his family and never got to see his youngest daughter. He was an only child. Nancy never remarried.
Lt. Col. Kiefel was transferred to Waco Texas for overseas training for Viet Nam. He was assigned to the 13th Tactical Bomb Squadron at Clark Air Base, Philippines, and assumed duty there April 1965. His unit rotated between Clark AB and Viet Nam, mostly at Danang.
From his brother,
John A Kiefel

***** joyce bennett moody - I knew him and his wife Nancy
china spring, tx 76633 usa
I knew Ernie and his wife Nancy as we were roommates in college. We all felt that we had a part in their courtship. He was a neat guy and had an infectious smile. He loved his family and never got to see his youngest daughter. He died serving his country and we all benefited from it. He gave his life for us, however his family paid a supreme price for his loss. He was an only child. Nancy never remarried and his daughters never got to "really" know him or feel his protecting arms around them or go to visit his gravesite. I pray that someday they will recover his bones and bring them back home to Pa. With God's help and the use of dna this is not an impossible task. This will bring closure to his/their loss and he will once again "be on the green green grass of home". God bless America and patriots like him!

***** "United States Census, 1940"
Name: Ernst P Kiefel, Sr. - Daddy
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1940
Event Place: Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, United States
Gender: Male
Age: 46
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Head
Birthplace: Indiana
Birth Year (Estimated): 1894
Last Place of Residence: Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head Ernst P Kiefel M 46 Indiana
Wife Claudine Z Kiefel F 45 Indiana
~ ~ ~ ~ . Son Ernst P Kiefel M 6 Pennsylvania
Son John A Kiefel M 5 Pennsylvania





His tour began on Feb 10, 1966
Casualty was on Jan 15, 1979
In LZ, LAOS
Hostile, died while missing, FIXED WING - CREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND

Body was not recovered
Panel 05E - Line 23


On 10 Feb 1966, Captains Russell P. Hunter, pilot, and Ernst P. Kiefel, bombardier-navigator, departed Danang in B-57B for a visual bombing mission, working with a C-130 flareship.

The two aircraft were prosecuting a target near Ban Vangthon when, after his second bombing pass, Hunter reported an unspecified problem with his aircraft and that he and Kiefel were leaving the aircraft.

The C-130 observed the B-57's impact with the ground and SAR forces later located the wreckage, but no trace was found of either crewman.

The two men were classed as Missing in Action. Eventually the Secretary of the Air Force approved Presumptive Findings of Death for Lieutenant Colonel Hunter (20 June 1974) and Colonel Ernst Kiefel (15 Jan 1979).

Their remains have not been repatriated.





************
Kiefel, of Downingtown, was only one year behind his brother, Ernst Philip Kiefel Jr. Growing up in Lower Paxton Twp., they were best buddies: riding bikes, playing in bands, taking train trips to Philadelphia Phillies' games, attending Franklin & Marshall College.
"I remember him as always there, and we could always count on each other," Kiefel said. "Not that we didn't have disagreements, but we got along and just bonded in everything."
U.S. Air Force Capts. Russell Hunter and Ernst Kiefel were lost in February 1966, when the B-57 they crewed together went down during a bombing raid in Laos. They were declared killed in action in the 1970s. The details of their last moments are murky, and their bodies have never been repatriated.
Jamie Hunter and John Kiefel each always knew the name of his brothers' crewmate, but they finally made contact last year through the Virtual Wall, www.virtual wall.org, a website devoted to the dead and missing listed on the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.
In phone calls, they marveled over the coincidence that Hunter would move from his native Connecticut to the same township where the Kiefel brothers grew up.
"Can you say it was something that was meant to be?" Kiefel said.

In Sept. 17, the younger brothers who are bound by their shared loss met for the first time during a state ceremony recognizing prisoners of war and service members missing in action.

John Kiefel said he misses his brother and won't have closure until Ernst Kiefel's remains are home and "buried in his own cemetery." But the tree by the Capitol is a "sign of faith" toward service members who made the ultimate sacrifice, he said.


**********************************************
.

Gravesite Details

Looking for location of his Memorial Headstone.



Sponsored by Ancestry

Advertisement

  • Created by: Eddieb
  • Added: Oct 27, 2010
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/60713281/ernst_philip-kiefel: accessed ), memorial page for LTC Ernst Philip “Ernie” Kiefel Jr. (11 May 1933–10 Feb 1966), Find a Grave Memorial ID 60713281, citing Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA; Maintained by Eddieb (contributor 46600350).