Ned Oscar Hunger

      Second Lieutenant

      United States Army Air Forces

Ned Oscar Hunger, the son of Wallace William and Grace Emma Walker Hunger, was born on 11 June 1921, in Burlington, Iowa.

He graduated from Burlington High School in 1939, attended Burlington Junior College, and graduated from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, Class of 1943.

Ned entered the United States Army Air Forces in February 1943.  He trained at various fields in Texas and received his commission as a Second Lieutenant on 5 December 1943.  He went to the European Theater of Operations in May 1944 and flew missions in Italy, Corsica, and France as a P-47 Thunderbolt pilot while assigned to the 522nd Fighter Squadron, 27th Fighter Group.  While on a mission over the Belfort, France area (two miles south of Vesoul) on 9 September 1944, Ned’s plane was hit and went down.  He was first reported missing, but his parents were later notified that he was Killed-In-Action.

Besides his parents, Ned was survived by three brothers, Arnold a Lieutenant who was a Prisoner of War in Germany, Paul and Donald of Burlington; and one sister, Joan, at home.

Second Lieutenant Ned Oscar Hunger, United States Army Air Forces, is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery in Epinal, France.

Among his awards and decorations is the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and Purple Heart.

On 1 December 1949, Knox College President Davy G. Umbeck, announced that the Knox College Board of Tustees established the Ned. O. Hunger Memorial Scholarship.  It was one of 64 scholarships established in the memory of the college’s alumni killed in World War 2.  The trustees recommended the scholars be awarded wherever possible in the high school, hometown or area in which the alumnus memorialized resided.  Umbeck said this meant that Burlington High School students will have a priority in obtaining the Hunger Award.  He went on to explain that male students who rated high in their high school graduating class will be eligible for the Hunger Scholarship.  Preference will also be given to students who have active in extra-curricular activities of the high school.  The scholarship will amount to $250 a year and is renewable for two additional years with the stipulation the student maintains a good academic record.  It will be awarded by the college’s committee on student aid on recommendation of the Director of Admissions.  Funds for the scholarship will come from the college’s general funds.

Source of information:

1.  The Burlington Hawk-Eye Gazette, 16 October 1944, page 1.

2.  American Battle Monuments Commission web site; http://www.abmc.gov/

3.  National Archives, World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel for the State of Iowa.

4.  National World War II Memorial veteran’s registry; http://www.wwiimemorial.com/

5.  The Burlington Hawk-eye Gazette, 2 December 1949, page 3. 

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