Schrader, Frederick Rutherford
Navy Commander

Frederick Rutherford Schrader, age 31, from Lawrenceville, Illinois, Lawrence county.

Spouse: Lucile Coleman Schrader

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Friday, October 13, 1944
Death details: On September 27, 2022, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Commander Frederick Rutherford Schrader, missing from World War II. Commander Frederick R. Schrader entered the U.S. Navy from California. He was the commander of Air Group 11, embarked aboard the USS Hornet (CV-12) during World War II. On October 13, 1944, he took off from the Hornet piloting an F6F-5 Hellcat (Bureau Number 58192) as the leader of a group of 12 Hellcats on a strike mission against Japanese installations and facilities on Formosa. While making a strafing run over an enemy seaplane base, CDR Schrader’s aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire, causing it to crash in shallow water. CDR Schrader was killed in the incident. Because the crash occurred in enemy-controlled territory, immediate search efforts could not be attempted. On February 14, 1946, American Graves Registration Services (ARGS) personnel recovered a set of unidentified remains from Rinpen Public Graveyard in Takao Province, Formosa, near the seaplane base where CMD Schrader was shot down. The AGRS concluded that the individual must have been a Hellcat pilot involved in the air raids on the area but could not identify him. The remains were later interred as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In August 2022, research by an independent researcher and the DPAA led to the disinterment of the remains for further study. The laboratory analyses and the totality of the circumstantial evidence available established the remains as those of CMD Schrader.
Cemetery: Punchbowl (2923)

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency