Erwin F. Schmidt was the son of Mr. Norma Gfeiler and Harold Allen of Maumee, Ohio. He graduated from DeVilbias High School where he had been President of the Student Council.  He attended the Heidelberg College for one term and then worked for the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn Michigan  as a chemist in the research department.  Erwin was assigned to the 327th Bomber Squadron of the 92nd Bomber Group.  He became a pilot of a B-17, serial number 44-6584.  On 3 March 1945, the bomber was returning from a mission to bomb Chemnitz in Germany when it suffered a mid-air collision with another B-17 (43-38675) Forchies-La-Marche (near Charleroi) Belgium.  All but one of the members of the crew died in the crash.  The other members of the crew who are buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery are Cletus R. Brown (Navigator), Marcus H. McCrery (Bombardier), Robert R. Deignan (Radio Operator), and Ray E. Wold (Right Waist Gunner.)  There is a memorial to the crew at Forchies-La-Marche.)
Information from the Toledo Blade 22 March 1945, courtesy of Erwin Derhaag, and https://airmenmemorial.wordpress.com/a-propos/