Captain Raymond H. Gansberg was a courageous World War II fighter pilot whose service and sacrifice reflected the bravery of the young men of the Greatest Generation. Born to John and Anna Gansberg of Downers Grove, Illinois, Raymond grew up in the community and graduated from Downers Grove Community High School in 1938.
Following the outbreak of World War II, Gansberg entered the United States Army Air Forces and rose through the ranks to become a captain. Serving with the 361st Fighter Squadron of the 356th Fighter Group, he flew dangerous combat missions over enemy territory in Europe. As a fighter pilot based in England, he participated in intense aerial combat operations during the Allied campaign against Germany. His skill and bravery earned him some of the nation’s highest military honors, including the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters and the Air Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters.
During the summer of 1944, Capt. Gansberg returned home on leave after completing many hours of combat flying over occupied Europe. Family and friends remembered him as an accomplished young aviator whose letters spoke of future assignments and advancement within the Air Forces. His parents believed he had been assigned to further training and was no longer engaged in direct combat operations.
On December 5, 1944, during a fierce aerial engagement over Germany, Capt. Gansberg failed to return from his mission. Fellow pilots later described the air battle as chaotic and intense, making it impossible to determine exactly what had happened in the “dog fight.” Initially reported missing in action, his family held onto hope that he had survived and become a prisoner of war.
That hope ended in February 1945 when the War Department informed his parents, through information received from the German government and the International Red Cross, that Capt. Raymond Gansberg had been killed in action on December 5, 1944. The news was reported in the Downers Grove Reporter on March 1, 1945, bringing sorrow to the entire community that had followed the young pilot’s wartime service.
Captain Raymond H. Gansberg was 26 years old at the time of his death. He was laid to rest at the Ardennes American Cemetery, where many American airmen and soldiers who gave their lives in the liberation of Europe are honored. His legacy endures as one of Downers Grove’s fallen heroes of World War II. His name is permanently engraved on the plaque at Memorial Park in Downers Grove, honoring local servicemen who never returned home from WW II, ensuring his legacy endures within the community he once called home.
