CHAMBERS, RICHARD H Sept 28, 1945 age 21 DNB Manila

RICHARD HARRIS CHAMBERS  b. 1924 China d. Sept 28, 1945 Died Non Battle Manila

2^nd Lt O-1061648 Army Air Corps Hdg Base 10^th US Air Forces Western Pacific

Buried Manila American Cemetery, Philippines

Rev R.E. Chambers in China

Parents: Rev. Dr. Robert Edward & Christine (Cottage)

Sibling: Ralph, Christine, Lois; step siblings: Robert E. Jr, Wm W., Muriel, Henry M.

Chambers has a story worthy of a movie script. His parents were Southern Baptist missionaries in China. The Rev, born 1870 in Virginia, went with his first wife, Julia Trainham  in the 1890’s. They had 4 children when Julia returned to Pennsylvania in 1916 and died of breast cancer 1917. Then about 1918 he married  the 15 years younger Christine Cottage. She left Texas 1914 also to be a missionary in China in 1914. At that time Americans abroad has to file various documents with the local US consul; especially useful are attestations of birth abroad by children of US citizens. Robert’s oldest son worked in china for Tobacco Products Corp, an American company. He subsequently moved quite a bit around the States.

In the 1920’s the Rev and Christine had 3 children. Richard was born in 1924. Their father died in 1924 in China of pneumonia. His body was later disinterred for burial in Virginia. Christine and her children stayed on in China; she taught English at the University of Shanghai.

At the end of the 1930’s their situation became tenuous with the invasion of China by Japan. The summer of 1937 Richard was at YMCA camp 400 miles from Shanghai when the camp was closed due to pending war. His mother and sisters unable to meet him at a designated rendezvous at Kuling as trains were jammed with Chinese troops. Richard was a slight, scholarly boy of 13. The American consul at Tsingtao put him on the ship Phyllis Soto where he paid one dollar to gain status as a passenger. Hardly did they get out of port before Richard was in the galley peeling potatoes; partly this was that he didn’t want to be alienated from the crew.

The ship first hit a typhoon soon after leaving port and had to dock in Yokohama. Amazingly Richard’s mother and sisters were also on a ship at Yokohama at the same time. But they had no way of knowing the other’s presence.

The ship left Japan only to encounter another typhoon. It emerged with some 8 feet of water in a hold resulting in a distress call before it got to Hawaii. It towed to port. The crew considered Richard to be a jinx on their voyage. Richard continued to Los Angeles on a different ship.

High School 1941

Meanwhile his mother was able to establish Richard’s whereabouts through the state Dept and other agencies; she contacted family friends to meet him in Los Angeles. There he finally had a letter from his mother and would be reunited with her in Detroit, where Robert Jr. lived.

He attended Redford. His mother was busy including giving a lecture on Feb 7, 1938 at the Redford Woman’s Club, the international relations division. The chairperson of the group was Mrs. Fred Dye, who with her husband lived 4 houses away from my Detroit home. It continues to be surprising how little we know of the many people crossing in and out of our lives; in hindsight needed to be more open to the lives of others.

Christine went back to china in 1937. For a time he lived with his stepbrothers family at 16724; Robert was now a credit manager for a finance company. Richard graduated Redford in 1941 then attended University of Michigan. His mother had returned and sister Christine married in 1942 and lived in Ann Arbor also.

After his life’s experiences it is no surprise he joined the Detroit Air Corp Nov 2, 1942. He was 5’7” and 142 lbs. He served in the southwest Pacific, Headquarters Base X as a coast artillery radar officer. He died in an airplane crash.

STACKABLE, THOMAS P. June 19, 1945 age 23 DNB Camp Gordon

THOMAS PATRICK STACKABLE  b. Jan 6, 1922 d. June 19, 1945 Died Non Battle

Camp Gordon, Georgia

Pfc 36529370 Army Quartermaster Unit

Buried Grand Lawn Cemetery, Detroit

Parents: David & Ella (Platz)

Siblings: David Jr, Dorothy, Kenneth, Warren, William

It was a family of Michiganders. On the 1940 census the family have occupations that are straightforward: Dad is a lineman for City Light & Power, Warren works as a station attendant in a gas station, Kenneth drives a truck for an auto distributor and Thomas is a pinsetter at a bowling alley. Work was simpler and more manual. The house at 17207 Heyden where they lived so many years is gone, what once was a very nice neighborhood dotted now with overgrown lots.

It seems back in the 1920’s the families not only were larger, but had more male children. For the Stackables 4 of their 5 children were boys! Curious whether statistically males outnumbered females in the first half of the 20^th Century. Of course the war quickly changed the ratio in favor of females.

Thomas registered 29 June 1942 when he worked at Detroit Furnace Co. He was 5’11” and 160 lbs with hazel eyes and brown hair. He spent 15 months stationed in Alaska.

From May 1945 until April 1946 Camp Gordon, near Augusta, Georgia, was the U.S. Army Personnel and Separation Center. They processed some 86,000 personnel for discharge from the Army. History of the Camp along with plenty of photos can be found on this blog post: https://taipeisignalarmy.blogspot.com/2015/05/ww2-and-new-camp-gordon-augusta-ga.htmln 

The Quartermaster Unit is responsible for supplies; they kept the troops fed and with fuel. Within the unit is the Graves Registration Service. There is a separate blog post with information about this necessary wartime service.

 

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Thomas was killed in a truck accident at Camp Gordon.

PIERSON, GEORGE J. June 9, 1945 age 22 KIA Okinawa

GEORGE JAMES PIERSON  b. Nov 13, 1922 Michigan d. June 9. 1945 Killed in Action Okinawa

Pfc 36917439 Army 383^rd Inf Reg 96^th Inf Div Co H

Buried White Chapel Memorial Cemetery, Birmingham/Troy

 

Parents: Roy J. & Maude (Kerwin)

Sibling: Adreth, Roy, Earl, Lila
Spouse: Marie Ann Rushlow  

Father Roy was an engineer on the steam railroad. They owned the houses where they lived with 5 children, but they’ve been torn down, part of the housing dilemma in Detroit.

Marriage to Marie Rushlow

George was a mason, married Marie Ann Oct 1940 in Detroit. He registered for the draft June 30, 1942 then enlisted in the Army Oct 5, 1944. He was 5’10” 148 lbs. with hazel eyes and brown hair and now he worked for Gracedale Motors.  He and Marie lived at 14238 Minock in Redford Twp. Marie was born in California even though her parents came from Michigan. Her sister Kate was a witness at her marriage. There may have had a daughter, Carol Marie, but that’s not definite as to being the correct person. Marie remarried, divorced 1979 and died 1982 in Redford Twp.

Big battles were fought on Okinawa. The 96^th Division had the highest percentage of casualties. How do you begin to account for the actions of any single company? There were over 10,000 casualties total.

It was the last major battle of WWII. On April 1, 1945 – Easter Sunday – the Navy’s Fifth Fleet and more than 180,000 Army and Marine Corps troops descended on the Pacific island. It was part of Operation Iceberg, a plan to invade and occupy the Ryukyu Islands. Last stop before Japan. The battle effectively ended with the Japanese General Ushijima committed suicide June 22, but it didn’t end soon enough for George.

 

 VIDEO of Bodies of US soldiers are buried at 96th Division Cemetery in Okinawa during World War II:  https://youtu.be/B2U7XZRAxxg 

White Chapel Cemetery achieved notoriety in 1960. The body of a WWI veteran was removed from a site next to his wife as he was a full blooded Native America; wife was white.  The cemetery has restrictions that required bodies to be at least 75% Caucasian. Also buried here are Lee Iacocca, Jack Kevorkian, and William Broomfield (my former Congressman).

SUTTON, WILLIAM C. Dec 20, 1944 age 26 DOW France

WILLIAM CHARLES SUTTON  b. May 29, 1918 d. Dec 20, 1944 Died of Wounds France

2^nd Lt 1182015 Army 313^th Field Artillery Battalion 80^th Inf Div Battery B

Buried Epinal American Cemetery, France

Parents: Thomas Henry & Catherine Frances

Sibling: Thomas J., Patricia, James, Maureen

Spouse: Lt. Catherine E. Diehl USANC  

 

Thomas, born in Ohio, was an accountant. In 1920 he worked for a motor company but by 1930 was a debt collector at the IRS. A hard job at any time, think what it entailed during the Depression. The family rented comfortable looking homes in neighborhoods of early 20^th century bungalow style houses. Now those houses are gone. In 1920 Grandfather Sutton, born in England, lived with the family.

William was the oldest child, graduated from Redford in 1940 and enlisted in the Field Artillery National Guard. 6’ 140 lbs with blue eyes and brown hair he got his commission May 13, 1943. Both his brothers were in the Army Air Forces.

He married Lt. Catherine E. Diehl of Wisconsin Jan 4, 1944. She was in the U.S. Army Nurse Corp. In the early 1950’s she worked as a nurse in Madison, Wisc.

 

 

The 313^th Battalion sailed to England on the Queen Mary July 1944. The 80^th Div landed on Utah Beach in Normandy Aug 3, 1944 when they were able to see the carnage of war from the D-Day landing. That carnage was beaches littered with boats and vehicles, dead bodies from both sides evidence of booby trapped fences. Then they made their way through France heading to the Moselle River. The division enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner on Nov 23. The Morning Report for Battery B on Nov. 26 lists location as 100 yards northeast of Laudrefang, close to St. Avold. William was wounded Nov 24, 1944; when he died of his wounds Dec 20, the Battle of the Bulge had started.

 

 



The following account is an oral history taken from Robert T. Gholson also in 313th Field Artillery Battalion, Battery B. It provides a good account along with maps and photos.

https://www.80thdivision.com/oralhistories/RobertGholson(313thFABn).pdf

 

 

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.