Luther Leeking Hackman was born on January 29, 1923, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Warwick High School in 1941 and attended Franklin and Marshall College for one year before being inducted into the US Army Air Corps on February 11, 1943. In September 1944, he was deployed to England.

Luther served in the 861st Bomber Squadron, 493rd Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Technical Sergeant and Radio Operator on the B-17G #43-38232 'Proud Pappy' during World War II. He was Killed in Action when his B-17 was shot down over Germany on November 25, 1944. The flight began smoothly, but the weather was bad over the target, and the flak was heavy. Proud Pappy was hit and exploded over Muschwitz, which is about 30 km southeast of Merseburg. Seven crew members were killed, and two others were taken as prisoners.

TSgt Hackman is now buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery, Saint-Avold, France. He has a cenotaph located in the Rothsville Lutheran Cemetery, Pennsylvania.

The crew that day were John Miller, Chas Steindorf, Dan Zimmerman, Bob Karlson, Luther Hackman, Bill Ford, Bill Burns (7 Killed in Action); Jose Gonzales, Harry Kellermeyer (2 Prisoner of War).

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, www.americanairmuseum.com