Aviation Electronics Technician, First Airman, U.S. Navy
Unit
35 COMPRON
Date of Death
August 26, 1951
Aviation Electronics Technician First Airman Balch was the radarman on a AD-4Q Skyraider dive bomber with Composite Squadron 35 aboard the carrier USS ESSEX (CV-9). On August 26, 1951, his aircraft burst into flames and crashed into the sea about five minutes after takeoff. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
