Fred Abigt was aboard B-17 #44-8302 as a photographer when it crashed on 9 November 1944 near Hern, Germany. He was taken as a Prisoner of War (POW). He was a Corporal at the time of his capture but by the end of the war he held the higher rank of Staff Sergeant.

After hearing Reverend Billy Graham speak, he moved to St Paul, Minnesota to attend Northwestern college, where Graham was President between 1948 and 1952. It was here he met his future wife Ruth. Their daughter Lorraine was born in 1956. They had two other children, Bill and Carrie.

The family moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1958 and Fred got a job at the aviation technology company Rockwell Collins where he was to work for the next 30 years. He died in 2013. He was predeceased by his daughter Lorraine who had died in 1998. His wife Ruth survives him as do Bill and Carrie.

Service

Events

Event	Location	Date
Born	Evansville, IN, USA	14 November 1924
Enlisted	Evansville, IN, USA	10 April 1943
Prisoner of War (POW)	Herne, Germany	9 November 1944 – 6 June 1945
Died	Cedar Rapids, IA, USA	29 November 2013
Aged 88
Buried	Cedar Rapids, IA, USA