FREER, RUSSELL died Aug 2, 1944 age 24 DOW France

RUSSELL NORMAN FREER  b. Feb 29, 1920 Michigan d. Aug 2, 1944

Died of Wounds France

Cpl 36131061 Army 87^th Field Artillery Battalion ‘C’ Battery

Buried Brittany American Cemetery, France; Memorial Redford Twp.

Parents: Albert Lester & Millie (Sachs)

Siblings: Ruth E., Clarence William, Edsel E.
 

Millie was born in Berlin, immigrated with her family in 1893. She married Albert in 1913; he had Michigan roots, worked as a truck driver for a grocery store. Brother Edsel played sax in the high school orchestra 1936. They rented their home at 16324 Lahser, just a block from the high school. The home was long ago replaced by a park, dedicated in 1951. Irony is it is named for someone else killed in the war, namely 2^nd Lt. James Hope, a pilot whose plane went down over the Italian coast in 1945; family lived on the east side.

Millie & Albert, right - brother, left

Russell graduated high school June 1939. When he enlisted Oct 1941 he was 5’8” 134 lbs with brown eyes and brown hair. He was with a Field Artillery battalion. This was the primary unit structure for the artillery branch in WWII within which were some of the most highly skilled personnel in the Army. The size of the battalion depended on the size of the gun: bigger gun needed more men! The 87^th had a 105mm Howitzer.

August 2, 1944 will go down in the history of the 87^th Armed F A BN as the most disastrous day for the unit. One officer and eight enlisted men killed in action. Four officers and 27 enlisted men wounded in action. One officer and eight enlisted men evacuated to the hospital as non-battle casualties. Charlie batter suffered considerable form the enemy shelling throughout the day near Villedieu. Capt Fensley was killed instantly when a mortar shell hit directly beside him while he was running to assist a wounded man in an M-7. Several suspected French civilians were picked up late in the afternoon. It was thought that they were directing the enemy fire on the battalion position.

Russell’ hospital admission card from Aug 1944 states he had an abdomen wound from an artillery shell. He received the Purple Heart.

The Letters of Donald Hainer

THE LETTERS OF DONALD HAINER AT FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE INSTITUTE ON WORLD WAR II AND THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE

 

The Donald Morley Hainer collection contains about 20 letters from Donald to his parents and/or his sister, Laurie. His letters were often witty, silly, and light-hearted. He signed the first letter “Stuff and Nonsense.” His second letter concluded, “Red showed me all the letters that Speedy has been getting from you people, and that’s the only way I get to know what’s going on. By reading other peoples mail that my folks send them. Oh well, Don.” This correlates with another common theme of his letters—Don’s great concern with keeping up with what was going on at home. He was constantly requesting more pictures of everyone and wanting to know who was going with whom. “You don’t know how good it is to see someone you know even if only in a picture.” Once he left California, his letters became more reassuring. On May 22, 1944 he told his mother “just because I don’t write doesn’t mean anything so don’t worry. Promise?” He was wounded in the foot in the summer of 1944 (in a previous letter he said he was going to the Mariana Islands, so this possibly occurred with the Marines on Saipan). He reassured his mother it was clean, that no bones were broken, and that he was recuperating quickly in the Solomon Islands.

Some other things he discusses are going to shows with his friends during free time, the great ice cream he gets aboard ship, and keeping up with current music (he’s a big fan of Frank Sinatra and Glen Miller).

In his Jan. 2, 1944 letter home, he informed his parents he had been rated HA1/c, which means Hospital Apprentice first class. His next letter, dated Jan. 7 informs his parents that Don has been drafted to be a corpsman in the Fleet Marines. He was OK with this as he had several friends with the Marines. He left for the Pacific theater in the early spring of 1944--March.

Below are a few longer excerpts that were especially memorable.

 
May 1, 1944: Dear Laurie + Punk, (Punk is Don’s pet name for his niece Susan, Laurie’s daughter)

… “You could have knocked me over with an exclamation point when you told me Bunty was getting tied to Louis Morretti. I’m sure glad you two didn’t get hitched. I can’t imagine Susan having black, kinky hair and black eyes.”

November 9, 1944:  Dear Mom, Dad & All.

… “Also don’t forget to have Flo give my namesake a hearty handshake for after all you just don’t go around kissing boy’s no matter how old you are, as you can see from the above I want Don to be raised to be a real trooper, or in words that aren’t quite so stupid, I want him to be an honest to God hundred % guy.”

--- There was a v-mail included in the collection to his “favorite mother-in-law.” He devoted a decent amount of time, especially after he has left California, to talk of Flo. He was quite worried about her before he heard she and the baby had made it through the labor OK.

Last letter in collection from ‘Blanche’ dated May 25^th : Sent sympathies upon news of Don’s death. “I can sympathize with you for I lost all I had. It nearly got me; but I just figured I had to go on living. Many nights I just walked the floor and said, I can’t, I can’t, stand it- but I had to fight it all out alone, and often wished it was a year more so perhaps I would feel better but God gave me strength, which I prayed for, and brought me through. I never could see the reason but he must have had a reason for so doing, I never could understand.” Requests the Hainers write whenever they feel they can.

HAINER, DONALD Feb 24, 1945 age 20 MIA/KIA Iwo Jima

DONALD MORLEY HAINER  b. April 14, 1925 Michigan d. Feb 24, 1945

Missing in Action/Killed in Action Iwo Jima

Hospital Apprentice 1c 8625675 Navy 3^rd BN 25^th Mar Div

Memorials: Honolulu Tablets of the Missing or Burial at Sea, Hawaii and Detroit Memorial Park, Redford

Parents: Welby & Alvina Emma (Hoeft)

Siblings: Flora, Loraine, Joyce Adel (died age 2)

Welby was born in Canada but was in the US in time to serve in the army in WWI in spite of having rheumatism. He worked as a foreman and Receiving Clerk in an Auto Factory in Detroit. Alvina, born in Rogers City, MI, came from a large German family. She had 12 siblings.

They lived in a nice, small brick home in Brightmoor at 15064 Stout,  not one of the cheap B.E. Taylor models that dominated most of Brightmoor. They lived 4 houses away from the Kammer family (also on the blog). Currently for sale, the house condition is shocking. (Yes, the homeowners are in the listing photos.) It is a disgrace to the memory of the Hainers and the people who worked hard for their homes.

 

 

Donald graduated from Redford June 1943. He enlisted July 9, 1943 right after graduation. He was a Hospital Corpsman with the Navy. A hospital corpsman is an enlisted medical specialist who may serve in a Marine Corps unit, as was the case with Donald. These corpsmen are often the only medical care-giver for many Marine units. They also serve as battlefield corpsmen with the Marines rendering emergency medical treatment to include initial treatment in a combat environment.

 

 

 

USS Solace hospital ship

He served on the USS Solace AH-5, a hospital ship, in July 1944 where he served with the Fleet Marines. For much of the time in WWII the ship avoided direct contact with the enemy. But in Feb 1945, at Iwo Jima, enemy shells fell within 100 yards from her.



Corpsmen on Iwo Jima

Donald was injured in the foot the summer of 1944, with the Marines in the Mariana Islands. Then he was wounded again Feb 1945 during the Battle of Iwo Jima receiving a shot to the abdomen while reaching for his first aid kit to help a casualty. He died while abroad the rescue ship. Initially he was reported MIA, later changed to KIA. As the body was unrecoverable it’s likely he was buried at sea.

He is listed on the Tablets of the Missing and Burials at Sea and also has a memorial plaque at Detroit Memorial Park West, formerly designated as a state veteran’s cemetery. He received a Purple Heart

 

Battle for Iwo Jima 71st Anniversary video:

https://dod.defense.gov/News/Special-Reports/0216_iwojima/

Very unique experience to learn about Donald is to read some of his personal letters sent home. They were donated by his mother to The Institute on WWII and The Human Experience at Florida State University. Excerpts from these letters are on a separate blog post.

LAPPING, BORIS Mar 24, 1945 age 20 KIA Italy

BORIS F. LAPPING  b. Nov 14, 1922 Detroit d. June 10, 1944

Killed in Action Italy

2 Lt Navigator O-707940 USAAFL 756^th BS 459^th BG (H)

Buried Nettuno Cemetery, Italy

Parents: Edward Carl 1899-1991 & Constance Helene (Cleary) 1895-1961

Siblings: Sherwood Foster, Geoffrey Alan


16720 Edinborough, Rosedale Park

Edward C. was born in Washington state 1899; his 1991 obituary covers an active, distinguished live who started as a reporter at age 13. He was an importing figure at 6’2” 195 lbs. Among his career highlights was working for Hearst and later Managing Editor of The Detroit Times. He married Constance Cleary of Windsor, Canada in 1921. Their 3 sons were born in Detroit. Raising their family they lived in Detroit’s nicest areas – Rosedale and Palmer Park neighborhoods.

Latin Club 194

Boris was very active at Redford, including ROTC, and played the principal part in the 1940 senior play “Young April”.  He did his draft registration 29 June 1942 in Detroit. Judging from his yearbook photos he stood as tall as his father.

Father Edward also had to register for the draft in 1942, as did so many of the fathers of the students. He had served in WWI and again interrupted his newspaper duties to become a Lt. Col. in Washington where he lived at the Wardman Hotel. He headed up a special branch G-2 of army intelligence; they compiled files on foreign individuals.

Boris joined the 756^th Bomb Squad, 459^th Bomb Group flying B-24 Liberators. He was stationed at Giulia air base, Italy, formerly a rough German airfield. The airfield was on the Pavoncelli Estate with its olive groves and vineyards and still exists. The ancient winery became group headquarters. It opened January 1944, becoming home to the 459^th.  They  engaged in very long range strategic bombing missions.

A navigator, Boris sat in the nose and could also double as a nose or wiggly ear gunner (guns mounted in the sides of the aircraft nose). The B-24J was essentially the same as a previous model except for an improved auto pilot, a new bomb sight and a better fuel transfer system. Excessive weight was a real drawback for the B-24J.

Excessive weight may have played a role in the crash of S/N 42-64340. It happened after takeoff for the Ferrara mission. All on board were killed. Lt. George Daron was the pilot. Missing Air Crew Report MACR 15159



Edward and Sherwood Lapping - Italy 1974

Purple Heart, and Air Medal awarded posthumously 12 Mar 1945.

ROBERTS, JAMES C. Sept 14, 1944 age 19 KIA Italy

JAMES CHARLES ROBERTS  b. July 9, 1925 d. Sept 14, 1944 Killed in Action Italy

Pvt 36880762 Army 338^th Inf Reg 85^th Inf Div



Buried Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy



17145 Archdale

Parents: William & Mabel C. (Vizina)

Sibling: Harold, Bernard, Roland, twins Frances & Phyllis
Spouse: Doris Marie Endine Sopha
 

This Michigan family lived together in their Archdale home for many years. By 1940 oldest son Harold had moved but the father in law moved in. Father William was a mechanic in an auto garage; in 1940 both Mabel and son Bernard worked assembly at an auto factory. They owned their home.

James did his draft registration July 9, 1943 in Detroit when he worked at Chicago Rawhide Co. He was 175 lbs, 5’11” with blue eyes and blonde hair. The 85^th Infantry Div, ‘Custer Division’ was an all draftee infantry division.

On Feb 12, 1944 he married Doris Sopha in Detroit. Her brother James also worked at the Chicago Rawhide Co. Now the Sopha family is interesting with their complex cross border connections. Her father Dolph Sopha was born in Sanilac Co., MI as Adolph Sauve, but lived and farmed in Ontario. His parents were French Canadian but they were married, lived and died in Sanilac Co. By completing American Consular documents reporting children born abroad, Dolph ensured they had American citizenship. Those were decades before dual citizenship was even a remote possibility.

Then William followed with the 338^th Infantry to Italy. It was at Mount Altuzzo that the regiment proved its mettle. A significant point of defense in the German Gothic Line, the 3,000 foot peak overlooked the eastern flank of the Il Giogo Pass thru the mountains north of Florence. On Sept 13, 1944 the 338^th attacked the mountain. Despite heavy losses and a desperate defense by the Germans, they made significant gains against enemy positions on the western slope. They overran the mountain’s lower defenses. On to Rome for the rest of the regiment without William.

He received a Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

338th end of Sept in Rome

 

FIELDS, LAURENCE Sept 15, 1944 age 31 DOW Germany

LAURENCE EUGENE FIELDS  b. Dec 23, 1913 Kansas d. Sept 16, 1944

Died of Wounds Germany

S Sgt 36123954 Army 39^th Inf Reg 9^th Inf Div

 

 

Buried Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Belgium; Memorial in family plot McPherson, Kansas

Parents: Samuel Adams Jr. & Fannie Rachel (Young)

Sibling: Laurel – twin (Frick), Galen Wayne

With this individual a different problem was encountered. Namely whether the name is spelled with a W or U. Yes, there are two  individuals with one letter difference; but only one died in the war. What follows is information that fits best, and it is thus misspelled on the plaque.

15015 Ashton

The Fields worked a family farm in McPherson Co., Kansas. Only Laurence moved to Detroit sometime in the 1930’s where he lived with his Uncle and Aunt Clay and Hazel Young, both from Kansas. Also in the household were their 3 children, a mother-in-law and another nephew.  Clay sold life insurance and rented a very comfortable house in Rosedale Park.



When Laurence did his draft registration 16 Oct 1940 he worked for Ford Motor Co, stood 5’5” 144 lbs with blue eyes and brown hair. He enlisted the next year July 23, 1941.

The first battles were in North Africa then on to Sicily with the 9th. He was wounded Sept 1943 in Sicily – wound was a lacerated neck from shrapnel.  The 9^th Div. went on to land at Normandy and fight their way through France and Belgium.

 

39th Inf Hurtgen Forest

By the afternoon of September 12th 1944, no less than three American units had laid claim to having set foot on German soil. New orders came thru: the 9th Infantry Division was to break through the German West Wall, the Siegfried Line, and push through into the Ruhr River area. A new long battle was about to begin. On September 13th, 1944, the 39th Regiment swept forward to begin a long and costly drive through the Hurtgen Forest in Germany. It moved past the Dragon Teeth (anti-tank constructions made out of cement blocks) and closed in on the fortified town of Roetgen, Germany. On September 14th, the town fell to the 39th and would be the first German city captured in World War II. Day by Day throughout the rest of September, October and the first week of November, the 9th Infantry Division battled its way through the Hurtgen Forest. These were terrible fights, and often named the “worst of all battles” according to many veterans of this Division.

His obituary was in the Hutchinson New-Herald, Hutchinson, Kansas newspaper, Nov. 27, 1944:

Memorial Service McPherson-A memorial service was held here Sunday afternoon at the Baptist church for S-Sgt Laurence Fields, who died from wounds received in an action in Germany Sept 15. He was with Gen. Patton’s army in North Africa, Sicily, and France, in nine major battles. Staff Sergeant Fields has a cenotaph in Kansas.

He received a Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster.

9^th Div Tribute Video – Hurtgen Forest battle. 

https://9thinfantrydivision.net/9th-infantry-division-tribute-video/

GAWLAS, RALPH Aug 9, 1943 age 19 DNB South Carolina

RALPH W. GAWLAS  b. Dec 4, 1923 Michigan d. Aug 9, 1943

Died Non Battle Sumpter, South Carolina

2 Lt O-806829 US Army Air Force 10^th Bomber Force Training Group

 

Redford HS photo

Buried Grand Lawn Cemetery, Detroit

Parents: Charles Paul & Gertrude Marie (Ribolin)

Siblings: Charles Garrett, Frederick H., Robert J.
Spouse: Payne Elizabeth Jernigan

Father Charles was born in Scranton, PA and mother Gertrude in New York, so there is a migration pattern seen often in Detroit families of that time. They settled in Detroit before WWI where Charles registered for the draft. He was a time keeper at Detroit Axle and noted he had bad eyes. Gertrude was pregnant at the time. Timekeeping was a professional he continued at various area factories. His own parents immigrated from Austria, the Polish and the German sections, in the 1880’s and the family continued the pattern of westward migration in the U.S. While Charles died in Detroit in 1984, Gertrude died in Northville at 99 years of age (1898-1997), where son Robert lived.

Ralph center in ROTC uniform

In 1940 the family with 4 sons also had a lodger in their house at 17157 Braile, a neighborhood a block north of the high school. The house seemingly is gone - so many homes are missing house numbers it’s hard to determine which is 17157; might be the unnumbered empty lot in between. They moved a couple times within the same neighborhood.

3 of the sons were in the military. Young Robert was too young to serve; he graduated Redford in 1950. In 1952 he owned the Redford Stamp Shop at 17237 Redford Ave.

Ralph enlisted June 15, 1942 in Detroit having graduated from Redford and completed his freshman year at Wayne University. He was 5’5” and 156 lbs., an office clerk at Axle Mfg. In a short time he became a pilot and flight instructor. His training was at Randolph Field, Texas, class 43-J.  He went on to as a flight instructor at Shaw Field, South Carolina.

April 17, 1943 he married Payne Elizabeth Jernigan of Alabama in Alabama.  A few months later on Aug 9 he crashed his plane in a cornfield near Sumter, South Carolina. An article in the Anniston Star, Anniston, Alabama describes the crash:  

PLANE CRASHES SUMTER, S. C., Aug. IQ.-OI.B--Two fliers were killed early yesterday afternoon when their plane crashed about five miles from the air field Shaw Field officials announced today. Killed In the crash ware 2nd Lt. Ralph W. Gawlas, 19 and Cadet Harvey E. Mumford, 26. Lt. Gawlas is survived by his mother, Mrs. Gertrude P Gawlas (11210 Braile Ave.), Detroit, Mich., and his widow, Mrs. R. W Gawlas (Cooks Road Route No. 4), Montgomery. Ala. Cadet Mumford is survived by a sister, Mrs. Alvln Grotke Buffalo (note the Braile address should be 17210).

At age 19 Lt Gawlas was already a pilot and  instructor! It seems incredible they could qualify so young. Pilots and crews had a terribly high mortality rate, evidenced by the 23  airmen killed in this memorial group

Payne remarried in Alabama in Dec 1945.

 

MOBLEY, ORVILLE Mar 24, 1945 age 19 DNB Kansas

ORVILLE DEWEY MOBLEY JR  b. Oct 25, 1925 Panora, Iowa d. Mar 24, 1945

Died Non Battle  Kansas

Cpl 3689158 Army

Buried Grand Lawn Cemetery, Detroit

Parents: Orville Dewey & Florence Gertrude (Goetzman)

Sibling: Norman Russell

They family’s origins are in Iowa, on farms around Guthrie City and Panora Iowa. There are still many Mobleys in that area of Iowa. When they came to Detroit in the 1920’s Orville Sr. did work tarring streets, last worked for City of Detroit doing street repairs. They rented their first home at 3740 Lawton for $20 a month. Close to downtown it and the rest of the block has been replaced with a Salvation Army facility next to I96.Their next home they owned, at 12859 Stout, and is vacant lot now, the neighborhood truncated by the 10 lane Jefferies freeway, I96.  Young Orville had a newspaper route in 1940. He left high school in 1943 the joined the army Jan 1944, 5’8” 145 lbs with blue eyes and blonde hair at which time he worked for the Detroit Times newspaper per his draft registration.

(Again, a note of caution for those using information from online family trees: read the source material! Do not assume the info is correct. I continue to be amazed as the sloppy work people do on research. Ancestry is wonderful, but you still need to look at  source material and not just use summary info. Check dates, name spellings, parents to ensure you have the correct individual.)

F-13 Bomber Fortress

 

Orville died in a military plane fire. He was one of 23 killed in an airplane crash in Kansas, according to the high school newspaper, The Outpost.  USAAF Data has him listed along with the plane serial number 42-93968 but can’t find any accident report. The plane was an F-13A which are early B-29/B-29As modified for photo reconnaissance; the F designation means ‘photo’. But can’t find an aviation accident report. Was this troop transport? 23 is a lot of people killed, should have left more of a report.

WHITEHEAD, ARTHUR H. Jan 28, 1945 age 20 KIA France

ARTHUR HERBERT WHITEHEAD b. Oct 19, 1925 Ohio d. Jan 28, 1945 Killed in Action

Alsace, France

Pfc 36978326 Army 254^th Inf Reg 63^rd Inf Div Co D

 

Buried Grand Lawn Cemetery, Detroit

Parents: Earl & Minnie May (Hissong)

Siblings: Lloyd, Earl Jr, Delphine Elma, step children Russell and Rhea Mae Masters

17045 Burgess

This was the second marriage for both parents and each have children from the first marriage. They were born in Ohio, as were many of their children. Earl was a plumber and son Lloyd became an Asst Plumber. Then in the war Earl worked at Wayne County Airport. They lived several years at 15045 Burgess.

When Arthur registered for the draft Oct 29, 1943 it was in Romulus, where he now lived. He was 126 lbs, 5’6” with blue eyes and blonde hair. His next of kin named for the draft registration was Raymond Dryden. The Dryden family was a neighbor on Burgess, likely they lived in a house on the now empty lot next door. Think about all the Whiteheads and stepchildren  who lived in a 792 sq ft. house.



Ambulance - note bodies on fenders

254th Gun Crew

The unit fought at the Battle of Jebsheim, in Alsace. It became apparent as the month of January drew to a close that the hub of resistance was the well fortified town of Jebsheim. Capture of the town was necessary to protect the north flank of the 3rd Division’s advance. The Battle was fought from 24 Jan to 2 Feb 1945. French troops fought alongside the Americans. The fighting was some of the most violent in the war with the town changing hands 3 times. On 26th of January the 254th Inf Reg was going to attack Jebsheim but the men couldn’t fire their weapons which were frozen. The Germans had an advantage of taking cover in houses; Allied troops had to contend with foxholes in the outdoors. It was winter, it was brutal. The battle reached its climax on the 28th and 29th of January. Fighting is in the village, each side being constantly reinforced with more troops. At sunrise on the 28th the streets are strewn with bodies that had been crushed by tanks, yet the fighting continues.  It is the evening of the 29th before the final 3 houses in the village are at last taken. Bodies are everywhere in this veritable bloodbath. Houses gutted, charred remains of vehicles everywhere, and the dead litter the streets gardens. Now they would go fight the German troops still around the town.  

HARRIS EARL R. Dec. 18, 1944 age 20 MIA/FOD Typhoon Cobra

EARL ROBERT HARRIS b. June 14, 1924 Highland Park d. Dec 18, 1944 Missing in Action/Finding of Death Philippine Islands Typhoon Cobra

Seaman 1c, Gunners Mate 3c 3122618 Navy 3^rd Fleet USS Spence DD-512

 

Buried Ft. Wm McKinley Tablets of the Missing, Manila

 
Parents: Earl Fitzhugh & Viola
Siblings: Marjorie Anne, Lonnie R.
 

Earl Fitzhugh was born in North Carolina, where he returned in retirement. Viola was born in Ohio. Sadly the senior Earl was retired 10 years when he died in accident in Hendersonville, N.C. in 1964; he was watched workman construct a cloverleaf on Interstate 26 when a dump truck driver, unable to see Earl, backed over him. He was 66.

17149 Gore

The father was a Detroit Police Officer. In 1930 they rented a duplex at 17149 Gore. This house was our back neighbor when I grew up! In the 1950s-60s the Pellicci family lived in the duplex along with grandparents.  Crossman’s lived next door in the white house. It is eerie that young Earl lived in a house I’m familiar with. In the 1940’s they rented a home at 22171 Ulster in sight of Redford high, then in the 1940’s moved to 17623 Hayden.

 

 

 

Earl registered 30 June 1942, 5’6”, 145 lbs with gray eyes and brown hair. He worked for Standard Die Cast Co. the Navy was his choice and he served on the destroyer USS Spence. After an overhaul at San Francisco the ship went to the western Pacific in early Nov. 1944. The Spence escorted a Task Force of 38 carriers as they delivered air attackes in the Philippines. The storm broke at dawn on Dec 17^th with a wind velocity estimate at 130 mph. 200 miles NE of Samar. The vessels attempted to refuel at seas but conditions made this action impossible. On Dec 18 at about 9 am the steering gear was damaged and the ship became unmanageable. Low on fuel and so less stable than normal the ship suffered electrical and steering casualties, rolled deeply to port, and capsized. After just 3 hours she sank with her crew of 341 including the commanding officer. Just 24 survived.

USS Spence Survivors

 

DAVIS, HARRY H Aug 9, 1945 age 22 DNB Florida

HARRY HOGAN DAVIS b. Sept 8, 1923 Detroit d. Aug 9, 1945 Died Non Battle

 Ft Myers, Florida

Cpl 36567128 Army Air Force  MPEU #6, 2117 Base Unit, Buckingham Army Airfield, FLA

 

Buried Grand Lawn Cemetery, Detroit

Parents: Harry S. & Mary (Hogan)
Siblings: Ruth Marilyn

Father Harry was born in England, wife Mary in Pennsylvania to a father, Martin Hogan, born in Ireland Free State, as stated on the 1930 census. Who knows how she and Harry met but they married in Detroit in 1919 when he lived in Highland Park. Harry was District Manager for a retail grocery store, probably why in 1940 they moved to Cincinnati. Both Martin and his daughter Marguerite lived with the family in the Braille house.

Redford Senior Play -Back center in uniform

Hi-Y Red 1940

Latin - Back left Harry; Boris Lapping back right

Young Harry graduated from Redford in 1940. He was a member of the ROTC (note he has on uniform in yearbook photos) Latin club, the Honor society and participated in the Senior Play. Note also in the 1940 class was Boris Lapping, another student named on the Memorial Plaque. He registered on 30 June 1942, 140 lbs brown eyes, black hair and 5’11”. His address is listed as 19150 Woodingham in Detroit so he did not move to Cincinnati with his parents.

News-Press Fort Myers 1945

He served with the Medical and Psychological Examining Unit #6 of the AAF’s Aviation Psychology Program. This program worked on developing a a scientific means of aircrew classification; they designed six hours of written tests and two hours of tests of psychomotor skill.

Buckingham Field in Fort Myers was a flexible gunnery training base used to train the gunners who would defend bombers. It was constructed starting in 1942 at a cost of $10 million on a total of 7,000 acres of swamp land which had to be drained with an extensive system of newly constructed canals.

His role was that of special observer. He was killed the TB-24D Liberator #42-23949 crashed on lading at the airfield.  Ten other airmen were killed in the accident: 1st Lt. James G. Baker, Pilot, 2nd Lt Jack D. Andersong, Flt Off. Thomas Wetzel, S/Sgt Robert Pelman, Cpl Stanley R. Kalenius, Cpl. Burton R. Simon, Pvt Joseph E. Hemminger, Pvt Lawrence H Huffman Jr. His death was noted in the Psychological Bulletin Vol 42, iss. 10  Dec. 1945 p 789

JARVIS, ROBERT Jan 21, 1945 age 23 KIA France

ROBERT FREDERICK JARVIS, b. Mar 20, 1921 Mich d. Jan 21, 1945 Killed in Action

Villafans, Haute-Saone, France

Flight Officer/Pilot T-062985 Army Air Corps 486^th  Bomb Group 835^th Bomb Squad

Buried Grand Lawn Cemetery, Detroit; Memorial Haute-Saone, France

 

20024 Berg

Parents: Walter F & Ida L (Demmons)

Siblings: Walter F. Jr., Thomas E., Howard R.
Spouse: Virginia Lee Bishop
Child: Bonnie Lee

Walter was born in Ohio 1897; in Michigan he was a metal polisher in an auto factory.

The family lived in the Berg house since before 1920.



Virginia 1939 Redford

Robert graduated from Redford June 1939. He worked as an apprentice in toll & die at the auto factory. Dec 29, 1941 he married Virginia and they lived at 16759 Plainview, around the corner from her family home on Evergreen. She was a secretary and was also a Redford student. When he registered for the draft in Detroit on Feb 13, 1942 he was 6’, tall for the time, 157 lbs with hazel eyes and brown hair. In June 1942 they had a daughter, Bonnie Lee, who died at childbirth of a congenital problem. (Virginia remarried Dec 1945.)

He graduated from Freeman Army Air Field, Indiana May 23, 1944 as a twin engine pilot with the class of 44-E. He joined the 486^th Bomb Group 835^th Bomb Squad flying a B-17. The practice was for the planes to be constantly in the air, so one crew came in and another took off. So ne plane would have different crews assigned. Jan 8, 1945 Robert flew The Fertile Turtle S/N 43-37943.

Meanwhile the Roanoke Magician had a rough life. Originally flown by Henry St. Clair (835^th) he named the plane for his town of Roanoke, VA known as ‘The Magic City’. The plane was damaged repeatedly but always returned to duty.  The luck ran out when, on their 2^nd mission with the new plane, it was hit and damaged by flak in a raid over Mannheim.  Jarvis attempted to get the plane over friendly territory. As he lost altitude he performed violent evasive maneuvers to avoid flak. By the time they made the friendly line they were too low to bail out. Jarvis decided to put the Magician down on her belly. The aircraft spun around and collided with trees. Both the pilot and copilot were thrown clear of the wreckage Jarvis was killed instantly. The rest of the crew remained in the waist area with a fire in the bomb bay. The crewman exited the craft with various wounds and burns but they were safe.

Roanoke Magician Crash

Crewman Sgt. Gerald J. Christ recounted event to his son at a reunion 60 years later. He “and his crewmates were taken by the townspeople to a nearby convent where the nuns ministered to their injuries. He was transferred to a hospital in England, never seeing his crewmates until a reunion in the 1990s. Then, over 50 years later, Dad got a very surprising letter in the mail…and my mother asked him, ‘Who do you know in France?’ He had no idea. When translated the letter was from Villafrans and expressed gratitude to Dad that over 50 years later this letter was being written in French instead of German, and invited him to an upcoming ceremony in the town. The town of Villafans had erected a monument at the crash site to honor The Roanoke Magician and its crew. Dad and three of the still living crew were honored in an unforgettable and historic dedication ceremony in Villafans, France in May 2000.