Carl Henry Richter

Erica Oertzen was about 17 when she gave birth to Carl Henry Richter, named after his father, Carl J. Richter. Whether they were married before or after Carl’s birth is uncertain, but the relationship wasn’t stable. They formally divorced in 1945, but records show she married Samuel Bato in 1929 and with him had a daughter, Mary Ann, in 1936.

There is no information on Carl’s boyhood. Only the 1940 census was available, showing the Bato family living at 8608 Brewster Avenue, off Island Ave in far southwest Philadelphia, but his name wasn’t included. Samuel was 11 years older than Erica and worked as a press operator at an automobile body factory. It appears he had a son from a previous marriage living with them.

Carl did live in the Bato home, at least as a teenager, when he worked at the Navy Yard. On May 4, 1944 he made up his mind to enlist, but since he wasn’t 18, he backdated his date of birth to May 4, 1926. 

 He got his chance on June 26 when he was drafted. As with his early life, details on his military service are scant except he served in the ground infantry and rose to the rank of Private, 1st Class. Carl’s  unit shipped out in January, 1945 but he caught artillery fire and died on April 15 in Germany. It was just five days before the Battle of Berlin, followed by the German surrender and V-E Day on May 8.

It was fortunate that Erica did not have immediate notification of his death, because Samuel Bato had just died on March 25. Meanwhile, Carl J. Richter began divorce proceedings against her in April and the divorce was granted in October. She then married for a third time in 1947. 

When Carl’s remains were returned home in 1948, Erica included him on Samuel’s gravestone in Section K.