SSGT. Henry Nicholas "NICK" Kuhn, Jr. was a Radio Operator and Aerial Gunner with the 12th Air Force; 57th Bombardment Wing; 310th Bombardment Group; 379th Bombardment Squadron; stationed in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO).

His Hometown was Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio. He later resided in Carey, Ohio, and Bucyrus, Ohio.

On 27 August 1943, SSGT. Kuhn, Jr. was part of the crew of B-25; serial No. 42-32414; (MACR-639), which was shot down by enemy fighter planes during the bomb run on the target. The MACR has KNB listed next to SSGT. Kuhn, Jr.'s name. THIS IS AN ERROR. He tells of shooting down an enemy fighter before his own ship was blown apart and he somehow managed to parachuted to earth.

SSGT. Henry N. Kuhn, Jr. SURVIVED the crash; but was wounded by machine gun bullets and was severely burned. He evaded capture by the enemy for 23 hours, before German and Italian soldiers took him into custody. He was taken to a hospital where his wounds and burns were treated. He was with the Co-Pilot, 2Lt John H. Schnack, when Lt. Schnack died. S/Sgt. Kuhn is not listed in the Prisoner of War (POW) records because after two months, he ESCAPED, and made his way back to Allied Lines. He was hospitalized, and later flown back to the U.S. By 01 December 1943, he was back home, on a 30 day furlough. He spent some of his time visiting Lt. Schnack's parents.

Friday, 27 August 1943
379th BS War Diary: Of all these missions, one will always be remembered by our Squadron as its most disastrous raid. This was the raid on the Benevento Marshalling Yards on August 27th. On making their landfall at the Italian coast, the formation of 36 bombers was attacked by 40-50 German and Italian fighters which in a running fight for twenty minutes, shot down three of the bombers, all from the 379th. The gallantry displayed by the crew in one of these bombers, namely, Capt. Kenneth M. Johnson’s crew, was indeed a credit to themselves and our Squadron. After receiving hits which set both engines of their plane afire, they continued on in a glide maintaining their gunfire on the persistent fighters, until they reached their target where they dropped their bombs before crashing.

379th BS: Extracts from Missing Air Crew Report # 639:
Shot down by enemy fighter action on bomb run to target.

A/C B-25; Serial No. 42-32414; MACR-639; shot down
THE CREW:
P Carpenter, Jesse L., 1Lt - KIA
CP Schnack, John H., 2Lt - MIA, DED, POW, Died as POW
N None
B Park, Jackson W., S/Sgt - KIA
E None
R Kuhn, Henry N., Jr., S/Sgt - MIA, RTD to U.S.
G Miller, Laddie T., S/Sgt - KIA
F None

Name: Henry Kuhn
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 12 Dec 1920
Death Date: 6 Nov 1998
SSN: 279121807
Branch 1: ARMY
Enlistment Date: 23 May 1942

Release Date: 02 September 1945

Henry N Kuhn Jr