Carl R. Genthner was born on August 17, 1911 in New York, husband of Mary Nolan Genthner and Dad of Thomas Carl Genthner who resided in Rochester, New York. Carl resided at 142 Brooks Avenue, Rochester, Monroe County, New York prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army on March 4, 1941, prior to the war, in Syracuse, New York. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Semiskilled engineer and also as Separated, without dependents. A medical officer, Carl served as a First Lieutenant in the 575 Ambulance Company, U.S. Army during World War II.

Carl served as a First Lieutenant in the 575 Ambulance Company, U.S. Army during World War II. He was one of the victims of Malmedy massacre when German SS soldiers of the 1st Panzer Division captured over 100 American soldiers at Baugnez Crossroads outside Malmedy, Belgium, on 17 December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge and, under orders to take no prisoners, placed them in an open field and then machine gunned them. When the machine guns stopped, the SS went through the field where some victims were still alive and systematically finished them off with pistols at short range leaving 84 soldiers dead when they had finished. Fortunately, when the machine guns first started shooting, a number of soldiers ran and some managed to escape and tell the story of how the Germans had treated the others who had not survived. Many American statements claim that he was the first man shot. He was wounded in the first volley of shots, but was killed after the Germans came into the field to finish the job. Carl said something to them in German and was shot three times. He is now buried in the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Hombourg, Belgium.

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