Frazier International History Museum

Carl George Tafel, Jr. Tafel, Jr

Louisville, KY

Carl George Tafel, Jr
P-51D Mustang Fighter Pilot

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The news that Carl was missing in action did not arrive at the Tafel home until January 14, 1945. His makeshift gravesite, created by a German policeman who found his downed plane, was located in August by his brother-in-law, Addison Dimmitt. The Army finally changed Carl’s status from MIA to KIA on July 14, a few months after V-E Day. Carl’s remains were later moved to a military cemetery in Luxemburg. In 1948, Carl’s family was finally able to bring him home for burial in Louisville’s Cave Hill cemetery.
In 1946, a portrait of Carl was included in an exhibition at the Speed Museum honoring those “young Louisvillans, young men of great promise who gave their lives in World War II.” In 1999, a plaque honoring Carl was placed at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum Memorial Garden outside Savannah, Georgia.