Carl Genthner was born and raised in Rochester, New York. Carl was the third of six children in the Genthner household. He grew up with his borthers Henry, Thomas, William and Edwin and with his only sister Helen.

Carl is described by his brother Ed, as being a good physical and well built person. He was quite adventurous and he loved to fish and to hunt, he even owned a canoe and subsequently spent much time on the Genesee River that ran through his hometown Rochester. He was loved as a son, as a brother and as a member of the Genther-family ...

After grammar school, Carl attended West High School in his hometown Rochester. After graduating from High School he worked as a licensed plumber & steamfitter. Besides that Carl was Certified Red Cross Life Guard & Instructor ... He eventually married his girlfriend Mary, who gave birth to their only child ... a son, named Thomas Carl.

When WWII came on, against the wishes of the family, Carl felt it was his duty to enlist in the service. He applied for the Medical Corps. With his Red Cross training, he was accepted. Carl participated in the early stages of the war in the African/ Italian campaign which probably involved duty in Tunisia, Sicily and the southern parts of Italy. After completing his tour, he returned to the States, only to volunteer for the European service ...

While being in Europe, Carl was assigned to the 575th Ambulance Company of the United States Army. On December 17, 1944 Carl was part of one of the most brutal atrocities of WWII ... the Malmédy Massacre" ...

In the morning of December 17, 1944 from 6.00 until 9.00 AM, B Battery of the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion closed their installation at Schevenhütte, Germany to go to their new position in Luxembourg. They departed in convoy about 9.00 AM and stopped for lunch at 11.45 AM just north of Malmédy, Belgium. After passing through Malmédy they moved south toward Ligneuville and St. Vith, Belgium. They passed the crossroads village known as Baugnez, approximately 12.45 to 1.00 PM ... At that point they encountered the lead panzers of "Kampfgruppe Peiper" ...

During these first hours two medics of the 575th Ambulance Company, PFC Samuel Dobyns and PFC Wayne Scott, had just left the 44th Evacuation Hospital at Malmédy. They worked their way into the 285th convoy as it moved south towards St.Vith ... When Dobyns and Scott reached the crossroads at Baugnez, they left the convoy and turned east onto the road towards Waimes. They travelled approximately 600 yards east of the crossroads when a German panzer riddled their ambulance with machine gun bullets. Both men were not wounded by the burst of fire, but Scott lost control of the vehicle, and it crossed the road and ran into a field ... At the time of the shooting, the ambulance plainly exhibited a Red Cross on the top, both sides, rear, and front. Dobyns and Scott were captured ...

At the same time Dobyns and Scott were captured, another ambulance came from the direction of Malmédy. A German panzer was already at the crossroads and it machinegunned the ambulance. A weapons carrier was the last vehicle in the 285th FAOB convoy. There were three more ambulances behind it ... All three were coming from the 44th Evacuation Hospital at Malmédy, heading east for the 47th Field Hospital at Waimes. In the ambulance directly behind the the weapons carrier was PFC James McKinney and his assistant driver PFC Stephen Domitrovich. In the next ambulance was Carl with his driver PFC Paul Paden and in the last ambulance were PFC L.M. Burney and PVT Roy Anderson. The ambulances had fallen in behind the weapons carrier and were about to turn east onto the N32 heading toward Waimes when the firing started.

At 1.30 PM the Germans began assembling their prisoners in an open field approximately sixty to eighty yards from the crossroads on the westside of road N23. There would be 111 Prisoners of War in the total group. More Americans who had hidden behind the barn just south of Café Bodarwe, came into the field about 15 minutes later. At the same time PFC James McKinney, T5 Dayton Wusterbach, PFC L.M. Burney, PVT Roy Anderson and Carl who had been captured north of the crossroads, moved into the field as well ...

In the next few minutes one of the most horrible scenes of the entire war unfolded ... A German officer was standing in a SPW on the left, he raised his pistol and took a slow deliberate aim and then fired at the group. The Germans in the two SPW's started yelling and firing machine guns at the prisoners ... Many American statements claim that a medical officer was the first man shot ... This man probably was Carl ... A suvivor of the massacre, PFC Paul Hardiman lay next to Carl. Carl was wounded in the first volley of shots, but after that the Germans came into the field to "finish the job" ... Carl said something to them in German and was shot three times ...

The men who died together with Carl in the Malmédy massacre were:

575th Ambulance Company

1st Lt. Carl R. Genthner

Pfc. L. M. Burney

Pfc. Paul "Pappy" Paden

Pvt. Wayne L. Scott

546th Ambulance Company

Pvt. Keston E. Mullen

T5 Dayton E. Wusterbarth

200th Field Artillery Battalion

Pvt. Keston E. Mullen

PFC Elmer Wald

Reconnaissance Company, 32nd Armored Regiment

1Lt Thomas McDermott

2Lt Lloyd A. Iames

Tec 3 James G. McGee

Pfc. John Klukavy

86th Engineer Battalion (Heavy Ponton)

Pfc. John J. Clymire

Battery B, 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion

Pvt. David L. Bloom

Tec 5 Carl H. Blouch

Tec 5 Charles R. Breon

Cpl. Joseph A. Brozowski

Tec 5 Samuel P. Burkett

Tec 5 Paul R. Carr

Pfc. Homer S. Carson

Pfc. Frederick Clark

Pvt. James H. Coates

Pvt. John H. Cobbler

Tec 5 Robert Cohen

Tec 5 John D. Collier

Pfc. Warren Davis

T/Sgt Paul G. Davidson

Pfc. Howard C. Desch

Pvt. William J. Dunbar

Cpl. Carl B. Fitt

Pfc. Donald P. Flack

Sgt. Walter A. Franz

Pfc. Carl B. Frey

S/Sgt. Donald E. Geisler

2Lt Solomon S. Goffman

Tec 5 Charles F. Haines

Pfc. Charles E. Hall

Pvt. Samuel A. Hallman

Tec 4 Sylvester Herchelroth

Tec 4 Wilson M. Jones

Tec 4 Oscar Jordan

Sgt. Alfred W. Kinsman

Tec 5 Howard W. Laufer

T5 Alexander Lengyel Jr.

Cpl. Raymond E. Lester

Tec 4 Selmer H. Leu

Tec 4 Alan M. Lucas

Tec 5 James E. Luers

Cpl. Lawrence Martin

Tec 5 Robert McKinney

Sgt. Halsey J. Miller

Cpl. William H. Moore

1st Lt. John S. Munzinger

Pfc. David M. Murray

Cpl. David T. O'Grady

Pfc. Thomas W. Oliver

S/Sgt. John D. Osborne

Pvt. Walter J. Perkowski

Pvt. Peter R. Phillips

Pvt. Stanley F. Piasecki

Pvt. Gilbert R. Pittman

1st Lt. Perry L. Reardon

Tec 5 George R. Rosenfeld

Cpl. Carl H. Rullman

Tec 4 John M. Rupp

Pvt. Oscar Saylor

Tec 5 Max Schwitzgold

Tec 4 Irwin M. Sheetz

Tec 5 John H. Shingler

Sgt. Robert J. Snyder

Sgt. Alphonse J. Stabulis

Tec 4 George H. Steffy

Pfc. Carl M. Stevens

Tec 5 Luke S. Swartz

Pvt. Elwood E. Thomas

Pvt. Louis A. Vairo

Pfc. Richard B. Walker

Tec 4 Thomas F. Watt

Tec 5 Vester H. Wiles

It took thirthy days before the bodies were discovered ... Near the crossroads on the place of the massacre, a monument was erected to remember and honor the men who died that day.

These days Carl Genthner rests in the beautiful American Military Cemetery at Henri-Chapelle ... He's remembered and honored by his brother Ed, by his son Thomas Carl, by his family, by everyone who visits the Henri-Chapelle cemetery and by every visitor of the In Honored Glory website.

Special thanks to Carl's brother Ed Genthner and to Carl's son Thomas Carl !

Credits to John M Bauserman's book "The Malmédy Massacre"