The Man Behind the Name
§ Biography
1st Lt. Donald A. Hastreiter served as pilot of the B-24J (42-51275) on the 16 January 1945 mission to Lauta. He was listed as MIA (POW) on the MACR.
German records confirm Hastreiter, born 8 March 1920, was captured and identified as one of the five crew members taken prisoner following the crash near Saalau/Kamenz.
Service record.
§ As Catalogued
Rank
2nd Lieutenant
Position
Pilot
Serial Number
O-710933
Missions flown.
8 catalogued · 16 Jan 1945 — 25 Sep 1944
The missions below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.
№
Date
Target
Aircraft
№ 647
25 Sep 1944
Koblenz/Mosel
M/Y
“Jitters From Bitters”
→
№ 760
24 Dec 1944
Ahrweiller
??
42-94814
→
№ 760
24 Dec 1944
Ahrweiller
??
42-94814
→
№ 761
25 Dec 1944
Hallschlag
C/C
42-94814
→
№ 770
30 Dec 1944
Mechernich
M/Y
42-94814
→
№ 781
05 Jan 1945
Target unrecorded
42-51241
→
№ 783
06 Jan 1945
Bonn Rhine H/B
H/B
42-XX501
→
№ 796
16 Jan 1945
Lauta
42-51275
→
Sources.
§ Provenance
United States Army Air Forces · National Archives and Records Administration · 1945
Official record
2nd Air Division · 2nd Air Division Digital Archive · 1944
Official record