Robert K. Kampert

1916-1951

USAF

WWII and Korean War

Robert Kenneth Kampert was born on March 28, 1916, in Barrington, Illinois to Herbert and Frida (Berg) Kampert. He grew up in Barrington, enlisting as an aviation cadet on January 28, 1942, and served during World War II as a bombardier.

He married Barrington native Lorraine Wilhelmina Dinah Mackie on August 22, 1942. Together they had two daughters and two sons.

Kampert was called back to active duty during the Korean Conflict, assigned to the 393rd Bomb Squadron, 509th Bomb Wing, 8th Air Force, Strategic Air Command stationed at Walker AFB, New Mexico. On March 23, 1951, he was a passenger aboard C-124A Globemaster II transport s/n 49-244 enroute from Limestone AFB, Maine (later Loring AFB) to Royal Air Force Base Mildenhall, England. A cargo fire forced the aircraft to ditch in the North Atlantic Ocean about six hundred miles west of Ireland. The aircraft disappeared before rescue vessels could arrive, and all 53 airmen on board were lost.

Captain Kampert is memorialized with his wife at Evergreen Cemetery. 

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Remember. Honor. Teach.

Courtesy of Signal Hill Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution