MARKS, AUGUST P. May 31, 1945 age 21 DNB Lake Lucerne

AUGUST PETER MARKS, JR  b Mar 14, 1924 Detroit d May 31, 1945 Died Non Battle

Lake Lucerne, Victorville, California

2^nd Lt 2064979 Army Air Corp March Field, CA



Gus 1936

 

Buried Grand Lawn Cemetery, Detroit

Parents: August P. & Adelle

Sibling: Anna
 

His parents were both born in Lithuania/Russia, but spoke Polish, immigrating about 1912/3. They came from another area of evolving countries. Their name originally was Markewicz, but it was changed in 1939 to Marks. In 1930 Father August was a machinist in an auto factory but in WWII he served at Camp Custer in Battle Creek in the Quartermaster Corps Training School for Teamsters.



Gus with Anna



Young Gus graduated from Redford in 1942 and June of that year registered for the draft in Detroit. Tall at 6’1”, 175 lbs with brown eyes and black hair. He served as an Aviation Cadet at the Pampa Air Field in Pampa, Texas.He had some striking photos taken of himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gus with Girlfriend

 

In June 1944 he was honorably discharged to accept the commission of 2^nd Lt at March Field, Riverside, CA as a training pilot. He was in a B-25 Mitchell Bomber on a training flight over bombing ranges north of the San Bernardino Mountains when the plane crashed and he was killed.

AUSTIN, EDWARD L. June 7, 1945 age 20 MIA Saipan

EDWARD LEON AUSTIN  b. June 14, 1925 Michigan d. June 7, 1945

Missing in Action Saipan

2^nd Lt. O-2076496 Army Air Corps 421^st BS 504^th BG #5 Very Heavy

Buried Memorial Tablet of the Missing, Honolulu

Parents: John & Ruth (Keller)

Sibling: Bernice   

High School 1943

Spouse: Margaret Dolores Thornton


Parents came from Arkansas & Missouri, repeating that common migration trail looking for work in Detroit’s burgeoning auto factories. In 1930 John was a laborer in an auto factory but by 1940 he had a more specialized position as a trimmer. Ruth was the manager of an apartment house. Their home addresses don’t place them near the high school, but possibly Edward took the bus across town to Redford.

He graduated January 1943 and registered that same year on his birthday for the draft in Detroit. He worked with the Army Map Service was 137 lbs, 5’9” with brown eyes and black hair. Already in the Air Corps, he married Margaret Dolores Thornton in Detroit Jan 22, 1945. They had an all too brief war time marriage; Margaret remarried 1947.

B-29 over Japan

He served in the Army Air Force with the 504^th Bomber Group, Very Heavy, 421^st Bomber Squad. Because of aircraft availability initial training missions were flown with Boeing B-17 Flying fortress aircraft. Once the squadron completed training it moved to Tinian in the Mariana Island in the Central Pacific in January 1945. Its mission was the strategic bombardment of the Japanese Home Islands and the destruction of Japan’s war-making capability.

Mission 189 – 409 B-29’s escorted by 138 FC-P-51’s attacked Osaka with 2, 592 tons of incendiary bombs. Two B-29’s and on P-51 are lost. The crew of B-29 #42-24834, Albatross, commanded by Capt James B. Collier, departed from Tinian June 7, 1945. Edward was the radar operator on the crew of 11.

From MACR 15700 report: Everything seemed quite normal. No-one realized that the fuel was so low. At 1915k without warning, Number 2 engine backfired, was out of fuel, and was feathered. The airplane commander told the men in the back to prepare to bail out. He then started calling his distress to Lotus Tower on VHF Channel “B”. No use of the regular emergency frequencies was made. At 1935K Number 3 engine was out of fuel, and the men in the back stated to bail out. The pilot asked the navigator to give the radio operator a position report to send, but it was discovered that the radio operator had already left the plane. At the start of the bail out the altitude was 3500 ft, IAS 170 miles per hour. Preparation for Bail Out: Bomb-bay doors were opened and wheels were let down. The crew fastened their parachutes and secured their one-man rafts to their parachutes.

Bail-Out – Personnel: In back, the gunner went first from the rear bomb-bay, followed by the left gunner and the right gunner. Bail out of tail gunner unknown. In front, the radio operator and the navigator left through the front bomb-by. The radar operator probably left by the front bomb-bay. The bombardier, engineer, co-pilot, and airplane commander went through the nose wheel well in that order.
The sea was rough with 10 ft. swells. 4 crew members were MIA, 2 KIA; remainder returned to duty. 

PLACE, RICHARD L Nov 18, 1944 age 21 MIA/FOD North Italy

RICHARD LELAND PLACE  b. July 23, 1923 Detroit d. Nov 18, 1944

Missing in Action/Finding of Death North Italy

2^nd Lt O-710167 US Air Force 57th Fighter Group 66th Fighter Squad

Buried Oak View Cemetery, Royal Oak, Michigan

8853 Birwood

16524 Glastonbury

 
Parents: Leland Fulton & Grace M
Sibling: Robert Raymond   
 

Leland was born in New York. In 1930 in the family home at 8853 Birwood they had a 14 year old boarder from Scotland living with them in the duplex they owned. The census only gives the bare facts, no background explanation. Leland was a purchasing agent. They later lived in Rosedale Park, 16524 Glastonbury.

Ford Trade School 1941

Robert graduated from Redford, then went to Ford Trade School. The school was based on Henry Ford’s belief of young boys learning by doing.  He received a degree in mechanical engineering from the Edison Institute of Technology when it was a private educational school, before it evolved into Greenfield Village and museum.  When he registered for the draft June 29, 1942 the 5’10”, 155 lb grown eyes brown haired young man worked at Lincoln Motors. He entered the service in Feb 1943.  

 

He was stationed at Aloe air Field, Victoria, TX where he did advanced single-engine training for fighter pilots. Robert flew a P-47D #44-20119 as a Thunderbolt fighter pilot attached to a pursuit squadron. On Nov 18, 1944 he flew out of  Grossoto Main airport in Italy on a strafing pass in Northern Italy.  Lt. Place flew too close to the tree tops and caught his belly tank on a tree. The tank was ripped off and burned. The ship hit the ground flat and skidded quite a distance over an open field. It came to rest near a road where the remains of the ship caught fire and burned. According to an eyewitness report from another plane, there was a slight possibility that the pilot got out. The account from the lead plane of the group was that the pilot was not seen to leave the aircraft. Lt. Place had been overseas one month.

 

 

 

 

 

A memorial solemn high mass was sung for him at St. Mary’s of Redford on April 5, 1945.

A military reburial service was held Nov 27, 1949 at Oak View Cemetery.

JUECKSTOCK, FERDINAND A July 11, 1944 age 18 DNB Texas

FERDINAND ALPHONSE JUECKSTOCK  b. July 20, 1925 Ontario, Canada d. July 11, 1944

Died Non Battle El Paso, Texas

Pfc 36889915 Army Biggs Field, TX

Buried Detroit

Parents: Ferdinand Herman & Florence Ida May (Thrower)

Siblings: Mary Ann (Tomchick), Susie (Webb)

Young Ferdinand and his mother were born in Canada. The two older girls and the father were all born in Michigan. In 1930 father Ferdinand was a real estate broker and mother Flo an insurance sales agent, very unusual at that time. Expect the real estate business was bad in the 1930’s and by 1940 Ferdinand was a metal heater for a car company. Both sisters were married and out of the house by 1940 when the Jueckstocks lived at 10811 Outer Dr, now gone.

 

Ferdinand did his draft registration July 26, 1943 in Detroit as a naturalized citizen. He was 198 lbs, 5’11” with blue eyes brown hair. He was stationed at Biggs Field, Texas. On July 11, 1944 he was the gunner on a routine training flight. It was a night flight. Several military personnel and nearby El Paso residents saw the plane crash. One resident who was sitting on his front lawn with neighbors at the time said: “I watched the plane and knew it would never make the mountain. The plane was not having motor trouble, but it just didn’t have enough elevation. We noticed that, after the plane’s lights revealed the nearness of the mountain, it tried to gain altitude, but it was too close to the mountain.” It hit the mountain squarely then there were 3 or 4 explosions. It was 11:07 pm. They saw the burning plane which leaped hundreds of feet into the air. Ferdinand death certificate describes the burns over his entire body.

A 13 foot white iron cross was placed on the east side of Mt. Franklin marking the spot where the eight Army fliers lost their lives. The cross was erected by Manhattan Presbyterian Church, Manhattan Baptist Church and Boy Scouts Troop 33. The names of the airmen were painted on a heavy steel plate which had formed the back of the pilot’s seat; it was found by the group when they ascended the mountain to erect the cross. Names of the airman killed were painted on the plate. The 210 lb cross, cement, water and other materials were carried to the site by crewmen from Biggs Field, relatives and others in Sept 1944.

A weathered cross which may have been the original was gone either from wind or vandals and a new cross placed there. Satellite photos show what looks to be the steel plate on an outcrop just down the top of the ridge from the KTSM-FM antenna.

 

SEIBERT, WARREN L. Dec 24, 1944 age 24 POW/KIA Germany

WARREN LOVELACE SEIBERT  b. Sept 24, 1920 Pontiac d. Dec 24, 1944

Prisoner of War / Killed In Action Gerolstein, Germany

Pfc 36591666 Army 422 Inf Reg 106th Inf Div

Buried Luxembourg American Cemetery, Luxembourg

Parents: Warren Raymond & Oral May (Lovelace)

Siblings: Donald W., Monica D., Oral L., Gertrude Ann
Spouse: Rose Jean Agee
Child: Janet (Sokolosky) ?

There is Warren Raymond born in Petoskey who on Jan 26, 1920, in Pontiac, marries Oral May Lovelace born in Bad Axe. He was living in Oakland Co and worked for Oakland Motor,; Oral worked as a telephone operator in Bad Axe. From that start they went to Holland Township where he again worked as an auto salesman. But with the Depression, 1940 found them in Detroit with Warren now working as a welder.

 

Redford 1940

 

 

Warren was active during his time at Redford. ROTC was one actively where he was in a group with Boris Lapping and Hugh Weber, also named on the Memorial Plaque. He enlisted in Oct 1940 in the Michigan National Guard. His draft registration was Feb 16, 1942. Warren stood 6’2”, 134 lbs with brown hair and eyes. He worked at National Twist Drill and Tool Co.



Yearbook Prediction

Oct 26, 1943 he married Rose Jean Agee. From one source it seems they had children; there is a Janet Seibert, born 1945, at Cass Technical High but no source to verify Warren as her father.

The 422nd Inf Reg went into combat in the Schnee-Eifel Area of Germany on Dec 10, 1944. On Dec 16 they were hit by the German Ardennes counter-offensive and quickly cut off. Several sectors of the regimental zone received heavy artillery fire and ground attacks. At 5:30 am on Dec 16 the temperature in Bastogne, Belgium was 14° F. Poorly equipped American forces suffered greatly while German forces, drawing on years of experience fighting in the Soviet Union, were equipped with warm, practical clothing.

On Dec 18 orders by radio directed the  422nd and 423rd Inf Regiments to attack and destroy enemy forces at Schonberg and continue along the St. Vith road to clear the enemy from that road which was a principal supply route for the Allies. In the afternoon of Dec 19, having no resupply of food or ammunition or evacuation of casualties for the past four days, the two regiments surrendered to the Germans. Of the 7,001 men missing in action at the end of the battle, 6,697 were captured, 6,500 of whom would return home; that left 197 who did not survive the camps. 564 were killed in action, 1,246 were wounded. It was the largest mass U.S. surrender of WWII.

They were marched some 50 km to Gerolstein. It was Dulag 377, a transit camp thru which all POWs passed for processing. From there they were marched or moved by box car further into Germany.

Warren was shot while trying to escape at Gerolstein.

MCQUILLAN, FRANCIS B. May 18, 1945 age 19 MIA/KIA Okinawa

FRANCIS B. MCQUILLAN  b. 1926 Michigan d. May 18, 1945 Missing in Action/Killed in Action

Pvt 16177511 Army 307^th Inf Reg 77^th Inf Div

Buried Honolulu Tablets of the Missing, Hawaii

Parents: LaVerne William & Hortense Elizabeth (Gable)

Siblings: William, James Thomas, Edward Joseph, Margaret Patricia , George Arthur,  Bruce

15552 Wakenden, Redford

LaVerne was born in Howell and Hortense in Flint. In 1917 they married in Flint. For a time they lived in the very rural area of Nankin Twp (later divied up between various western Wayne Co cities). He was a die maker and by the time they had their house on Wakenden in Redford he worked as a designing engineer for an auto factory. In addition to the 2 parents there were 7 children in their 1,200 sq foot home, but at least no boarders or in-laws.

Francis graduated from Redford in Jan 1943; even thou he lied in Redford Twp, students were eligible to attend Detroit HS due to the lack of a full service high school. He then attended University of Detroit college of engineering. He worked as a junior draftsman at Ex-Cell-O Corp. and was an A.S.T.P. student at Michigan State College. He had plans for a great future.

Then he enlisted Sept 20, 1944 at Fort Sheridan, Ill. Sent overseas in Feb 1945. 2 of his brothers were also in the military.

From History.net: Along the 96th Division’s western flank, the 77th Infantry Division battled through its own hell, particularly at Ishimmi Ridge, a 350-foot rise one-third of a mile in front of Shuri. Before dawn on May 17, Lieutenant Theodore S. Bell led 204 men of the 307th Regiment to its crest, then waited for the enemy barrage that would inevitably come once daylight arrived. The Japanese delivered a deafening response, as mortar and artillery fire mixed with unbelievably thick machine-gun fire from both flanks and the nearby heights at Shuri. By 10 a.m., all but one of the regiment’s 60mm mortars had been destroyed, and most of its radios had been knocked out.

All day long the regiment withstood heavy fire as supplies rapidly diminished. By nightfall, the isolated unit pulled back to its command post in a last-ditch stand to hold onto the ridge, hoping that reinforcements would arrive before the Japanese overran their positions. One relief force tried to reach the beleaguered men, but had to turn back before gaining the crest because of stiff Japanese resistance.

Fighting continued the next morning. When soldiers exhausted their supplies of grenades or bullets, they crawled to the bodies of fallen comrades to retrieve whatever ammunition they could find there. Some wounded men asked their buddies to prop them up and put a weapon in their hands so they could help fight, but by late afternoon only six reinforcements–one officer and five men–had been able to battle through the Japanese to reach the perimeter. Later that day a few more men arrived with fresh supplies, but the situation for the 307th looked bleak. Help finally arrived late on the third day, when men from the 306th Regiment punched a corridor through to the surrounded men. As each fresh soldier checked in, an exhausted GI from the 307th was able to leave his position and stumble down to rear areas for much-needed rest. The regiment paid dearly for Ishimmi Ridge. Of the 204 men who charged up on May 17, only 48 returned on May 20 without serious injury.

Francis was listed as Missing in Action. There is a hospital admission card from May 1945 that lists him KIA battle casualty, but a casualty list indicates he is ‘nonrecoverable’. He did not make it off the ridge.

He received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

COOK, NORMAN G. Nov 9, 1944 age 21 KIA Germany

NORMAN GRAMLEY COOK  b. Dec 29, 1922 d. Nov 9, 1944 Killed in Action Germany

S Sgt 36577596 Army 112^th Inf Reg 28^th Inf Div

Buried Parkview Memorial Cemetery, Livonia, Michigan

Parents: Oscar Gordon & Gertrude Violet (Keeling)

Siblings: Airetta, Oscar Gordon Jr., Helen Gertrude, Earl Roy, Joan, James, Robert

His parents came up from  Missouri and Arkansas. Oscar worked in the auto factory and with his wife had 8 children in their Brightmoor neighborhood. It was a neighborhood of residents of mixed origins all living the dream of work and a home. Alas today it is a neighborhood of overgrown lots, garbage piles and boarded up, long abandoned structures. By 1940 they owned their home and Oscar worked for an airplane manufacturer.

The 112^th Inf Reg plowed through France and Germany participating in the capture of Paris, then went on to the Huertgen Forest and the bitter fighting that took place. At one point, after the fight for Kommerscheidt, the regiment was reduced to 300 men just prior to the Battle of Bluge fought in Dec.

His Headstone Application has the Regiment and Division corrected on the back side.

FIKE, HEWITT Dec 31, 1943 age 21 KIA New Guinea

HEWITT EDWARD FIKE TAYLOR  b. Mar 11, 1922 Litchfield, Mich d. Dec 31, 1943 Killed in Action New Britain, New Guinea

Pfc 430471 USMCR Co. M 3^rd Battalion, 7^th Marine, 1^st Div

15735 Pierson

 

Buried Ft. Wm McKinley, Manila, Philippines

Parents: Ronald H & Eva A (Dubois)

Siblings: Virginia, Roland H. Jr   
 

Hewitt’s parent came from Iowa and Ill to join Detroit’s growing workforce. His ancestry shows families constantly on the move, from Iowa and Missouri, to Illinois to Litchfield then Detroit. Americans historically are a very mobile bunch always looking for open land and later shifting boom towns for employment. The Fike's lived many years in the 850 sq ft house where they raised their family. Roland Sr. first worked as an auto company metal worker, then was a tinsmith in an adding machine factory. Daughter Virginia worked as a stenographer in the same factory and young Hewitt when he registered for the draft was also at Burroughs Adding Machine Co. I wonder if it was the plant down on Second Avenue that I passed regularly when taking the bus to Wayne State University.

High School 1939

Hewitt graduated from Redford in 1939 and first worked as a grocery store clerk before going to Burroughs. His draft registration was June 29, 1942 when he was 5’7”, 135 lbs with blue eyes and brown hair.

 

 

By October 1942 he is on the Marine Muster Rolls. Oct 1943 finds him on a ship with the 2^nd Bn 8^th Marines. On Dec 26, 1943 the division landed at Cape Gloucester on New Britain. As part of the campaign to secure New Guines the combat on New Britain took place in some of the most rugged terrain anywhere on earth. Clothing, paper, leather – all quickly rotted or fell apart in the intense humidity and heavy rainfall. Weapons and ammunition corroded almost in front of men’s eyes. Marines moved out from the beachhead into the nearly impenetrable jungle to locate and destroy the Japanese defenders. Securing Hill 150, Aogiri Ridge and Hill 660, the division’s infantry regiments secured a lodgment around the landing beaches at Borgen Bay.

 

Hewitt received a Purple Heart.

TAYLOR, JOHN A. Sept 15, 1944 age 31 KIA S. Pacific

JOHN ALEXANDER GEORGE TAYLOR  b. June 29, 1913 Clyde Bank, Scotland

d. Sept 15, 1944 Killed in Action Peleliu, South Pacific

Cpl 472312 USMCR

Buried Golden Gate National Cemetery, California

Parents: George & Agnes (George)

Siblings: Euphemia Coratophine, Andrew G., Richard H, Thelma E   

There is some difficulty in ensuring that this is the information for the correct John A. Taylor. Some of the difficulties encountered are he is much older than the rest, different death dates, and a general problem finding information on Marines. The Michigan casualty report indicates he was killed 10/19/44 however his grave has Sept 15, 1944. The Michigan reports have done this on others.

These Taylors came from Scotland via Canada, father George in 1926, the rest in 1927. Only the youngest two were born in Michigan. George brought the family to a home in Redford RFD #10 Beech Road. (Oddly the 1930 census list the street as Brendemere, a name never encountered on any old Redford maps.) George was a stone cutter who died in 1939 of a coronary thrombosis.

John registered for the Oct 16, 1940 when he was employed by Soloman Kanat. He was 5’8”, 140 lbs with Gray eyes and brown hair. He did seem to have married, but the name truly is hard to trace. The Marines casualty list indicate a notify party of Mr. Agnes Taylor at 5010 Hillsboro Street, Detroit. His burial location also seems somewhat irregular for its location in relation to his death and the family.  

O’DONNELL, RONALD Nov 28, 1944 age 20 KIA Vosges, France

RONALD FRANCIS O’DONNELL  b. May 7m, 1924 Perth, Canada d. Nov 28, 1944 Killed in Action Vosges, France

Pfc 36591722 Army 25^th Tank Bn 14^th Armored Div

Buried Epinal American Cemetery, France

Parents: Charles Thomas & Mabel M. (McKerracher)

Sibling: John H.

Another family from Canada. They crossed into Detroit 1929, but their father Charles had been her earlier. They moved into the Brightmoor area, two different houses; both have been torn down. Charles was a stenciler at a refrigerator factory. Mabel died Sept 1940 of chronic nephritis.

When Ronald attended school he also was a news peddler. I still remember home delivery of the newspaper by a neighborhood kid. When he registered on June 30, 1942 he worked for Ford Motor Co. He had blue eyes and brown hair, stood 5’7” at 135 lbs.



25th Tank Bn at Epfig

His unit entered combat in Nov. 1944 and the division’s first task was a drive through the Vosges Mountains, considered one of the most difficult enterprises facing a modern army. The division breached the Vosges defenses, poured into the Alsatian Plain, took Haguenau, Wissembourg and knifed into Germany.

Ronald received the Purple Heart.

 

 

This website had before and after scenes in the battle area of France: http://www.materielsterrestres39-45.fr/fr/index.php/guerre-terrestre-france/140-vosges-lorraine/689-les-rouges-eaux

For an excellent history of the 25^th Tank Battalion see: http://www.14thad.org/25thTB/index.cfm

 

 

 

HOVINEN, CECIL Dec 24, 1942 age 27 DNB Texas

CECIL ALBERT HOVINEN  b. Apr 2, 1915 Hancock, MI Died Non Battle d. Dec 24, 1942

Maverick Co., Texas

Lt 36130360 Army Air Force Eagle Pass Air Field, Texas

Buried Evergreen Cemetery, Detroit (also on memorial Hondo Cemetery)

Parents: Richard Christian & Lena Haavisto (Johnson)
Siblings: Raymond R, Eldred, Clarence R., Erma, Florence I.E., Gordon C., Elloys, Chester

Richard and Lena are both of Scandinavia background, Richard born in Norway of Finnish parents. Initially a miner in Hancock, the family moved in the 1920’s to Detroit where Richard worked on the auto assembly line. In 1930 not only did they have several children living with them at 16339 Log Cabin, but also a daughter-in-law, wife’s brother and a nephew! In 1940 they only had Cecil living with them yet moved to a larger house on 15608 LaSalle.

Cecil graduated from Redford in 1933. Then worked as a machinist at Ford Motor Co. His draft registration was Oct 1940 then he enlisted Oct 24, 1941 at Fort Custer, MI, 5’8”, 138 lbs with blue eyes and blonde hair.

He attended Navigation School at Eagle Pass air Field, Eagle Pass, Texas. He was a Comtometer Operator. It was there his plane AT-7 #42-2445 crashed at Chittam Ranch. The pilot was 2^nd Lt Donald W. Pittsley from Bay City. The plane had a 4 man crew. Cecil's death certificate describes the primary cause of death as a fractured skull and multiple arms and leg fractures.

 

There is a wonderful family tree online for this family which has several pictures posted.

MACKAY, LAWRENCE E. May 17, 1945 age 19 KIA Okinawa

LAWRENCE E. MACKAY  b. April 27, 1926 Detroit d. May 17, 1945 Killed in Action Okinawa

Pvt 36471465 Army 307^th Inf Reg. 77^th Inf Div

Buried Woodlawn Cemetery, Santa Monica, Calif

Parents: Ernest C. & Wilhelmine (Singleton)

 

Another immigrant story, both parents born in England and moving to America in the early 1920’s. In the 1930’s the Wilhelmine’s father and sister lived with the family. Ernest was a cable splicer in an auto factory, Wilhelmine an office clerk in a retail bake goods store and grandfather William Singleton worked as an elevator operator in an apartment building (he was 64). In 1935 Lawrence made a trip to England with his parents. In 1940 they lived at 16745 Oakfield (their 1930 house on Fernwood is gone).

Lawrence graduated from Redford. His draft registration was on his 18^th birthday in 1944 done in Grosse Pointe Farms. He was employed by Kelvinator, 165 lbs, blue eyes and brown hair standing 6’2”. He notes as kin J.V. Davidson, where he may have lived as his parents had already moved to Santa Monica, Calif. He enlisted soon after in July at Ft. Sheridan, Illinois.

His regiment fought on Okinawa from April 27 through June 27, 1945.

The headstone photo found for Lawrence is not the one issued by the military but one likely placed at the time of his father's death in 1977. It is not uncommon for graves to have 2 gravestones.

What was it on Okinawa like for soldiers like Lawrence? The video is actual footage of the 307^th Inf Ref 77^th Inf Div on May 18, 1945.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frWodO_ynZ4&feature=emb_title

 

HANMER, CHARLES E. Apr 11, 1946 age 24 MIA China Sea

CHARLES EDWARD HANMER  b. Feb 2, 1922 Lennon, MI Missing in Action Apr 1945

China Sea d. April 11, 1946 Declaration of Death

2^nd Lt 033780 Marines Observation Squadron 6 VMO-6

Buried Honolulu Tablets of the Missing, Hawaii

 

Parents: Harry Howard & Hazel Fern (Phillips)

Siblings: William, Phillip

The family’s origins start in Genesee Co., Michigan. All 3 sons were born in Lennon, near Flint. Harry and Hazel married 1916 in Ohio then lived in Venice, Michigan. Harry worked as an auto salesman and Hazel was a saleslady in a department store. They rented their various homes and in 1930 lived 15420 Westbrook, Detroit. Their 3 sons were also employed: an accountant, shipper and car driver. During the 1930’s there was some disruption in the family as in 1940 Harry lived with his older sister in Detroit and Hazel with her sons lived in a different house on Westbrook. Harry was unemployed and continued as such on his 1942 draft registration. Harry died 1947 and is buried in a Hanmer family plot in Mt. Morris. Hazel died 1954 but is buried in Grand Lawn Cemetery, Detroit.

Charles registered June 30, 1942 in Detroit. He was 6’1” 170 lbs with gray eyes and brown hair. He shows up Oct 1944 on Marine muster rolls as part of the Fleet Marine Force, Auxiliary Air Facility, Bogue Field, North Carolina.

He joined the Marine Observation Squadron VMO-6. It flew artillery spotting, reconnaissance, message delivery, wrie laying and medical evacuation. They flew OY-1 Sentinel aircraft, referred to as ‘Grasshoppers’.

Planes at Youtan Airfield, Okinawa

A History of Marine Observation Squadron Six, History and Museums Div. Hdqrs, U.S. Marine Corp., by Lt Col Gary W. Parker USMC and Maj Frank M. Batha, Jr. USMC describes his last flight:

“During the Month of April 1945 the squadron lost three Marines.  Second Lieutenant Charles Hanmer was forced down while on an artillery mission over Motobu Peninsula (Okinawa) when a sudden rainstorm moved in from the China Sea restricting visibility.  During his last radio communication, Hanmer reported he was lost, running out of fuel, and going down at sea.  A radio bearing of Hanmer’s position was taken by the ground station at Kadena and Air-Sea Rescue started a search at once.  No trace of Hanmer or his aircraft was found.”

Charles was declared dead on April 11, 1946. His brother William was wounded in the war.

Grasshopper over Nara, Okinawa