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Contact Info
Home Town Bayonne, New Jersey
Last Address Texas
Date of Passing Aug 02, 1973
Location of Interment Georgetown Cemetery - Pottsboro, Texas
He was credited with destroying 4.5 enemy aircraft in aerial combat, plus 2 probables in the Spanish Civil War. In WWII he was credited with shooting down 5 enemy aircraft in the CBI Theater.
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Second Award of the Distinguished Flying Cross to Major (Air Corps), [then First Lieutenant] Albert J. Baumler, United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary achievement while participating in over 50 combat missions from 8 December 1941 to 8 December 1942. Acting in the capacity of Fighter Pilot, Major Baumler displayed the highest type of aggressive spirit which resulted in much damage to enemy installations and equipment. In offensive sweeps from bases in China between the above dates he participated in combat missions which gained for him confirmation of the destruction of five Japanese aircraft. Major Baumler's willingness at all times to carry the fight to the enemy against heavy odds is in keeping with the finest combat traditions of the Army Air Forces.
AFSC/MOS AAF MOS 1055-Pilot, Single-Engine Fighter
Base, Station or City
Not Specified
State/Country
United States
Patch
United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) Details
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America between 1926 and 1941. The statutory administrative forerunner of the United States Air Force, it was renamed from the earlier United States Army Air Service on 2 July 1926 and part of the larger United States Army. The Air Corps was the immediate predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), established on 20 June 1941. Although discontinued as an administrative echelon during World War II, the Air Corps (AC) remained as one of the combat arms of the Army until 1947, when it was legally abolished by legislation establishing the Department of the Air Force.
The Air Corps was renamed by the United States Congress largely as a compromise between the advocates of a separate air arm and those of the traditionalist Army high command who viewed the aviation arm as an auxiliary branch to support the ground forces. Although its members worked to promote the concept of air power and an autonomous air force between the years between the world wars, its primary purpose by Army policy remained support of ground forces rather than independent operations.
On 1 March 1935, still struggling with the issue of a separate air arm, the Army activated the General Headquarters Air Force for centralized control of aviation combat units within the continental United States, separate from but coordinate with the Air Corps. The separation of the Air Corps from control of its combat units caused problems of unity of command that became more acute as the Air Corps enlarged in preparation for World War II. This was resolved by the creation of the Army Air Forces (AAF), making both organizations subordinate to the new higher echelon.
The Air Corps ceased to have an administrative structure after 9 March 1942, but as "the permanent statutory organization of the air arm, and the principal component of the Army Air Forces," the overwhelming majority of personnel assigned to the AAF were members of the Air Corps.
Other Memories He left Spain in Aug 1937 and returned to the Army Air Corps where he was commissioned a 2Lt and awarded his military pilot wings on Sep 17, 1938, and went on active duty on Nov 1, 1938. He served as an instructor pilot for the next 3 years, and resigned his commission on November 25, 1941, to join the Flying Tigers in China. He was refused a travel permit by the State Department for his violation of travel laws to serve in the Spanish Air Force, so he returned to the USAAC and was on his way to China to serve as a liaison to the Flying Tigers when Pearl Harbor was attacked. (http://veterantributes.org)
