Thursday, December 4, 2014

Soldier News continued, 1944

Recent War Fatalities
Bainbridge News & Republican, September 21, 1944
 
Jack Kaplan

Jack Kaplan, 22-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Kaplan, owners of the Beaver Lake Lodge near Livingston Manor [Sullivan Co., NY], was killed in France on Aug. 12, according to a telegram received by his wife from the War Department.

Charles Ingram

Charles Ingram, son of Mr. and Mrs. Austin Ingram, of Dry Brook, near Arkville [Delaware Co., NY], was killed in action in Italy on July 9.  A letter from his regimental chaplain to Mrs. Ingram states that he was killed by fragments from heavy artillery shells during the American advance on the Italian peninsula.  He had previously been reported missing.

S/Sgt. Richard O. McCarthy

S/Sgt. Richard O. McCarthy, aged 24, son of Mrs. Russell J. Hood of Apex, who previously was reported missing in action in France on April 25, is now reported as having been killed in action on that date, according to information received by his mother from the War Department.

Samuel A. Travis

Samuel A. Travis, of Montrose, [PA] was killed in action in France on Aug. 14, according to a telegram from the War Department to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Travis.  He had been overseas two months.

Private Samuel A. Travis, 18, son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel W. Travis of Montrose, Pa., R.D.3, formerly of Binghamton, was killed in action in France last Aug. 7, according to War Department notification received by his parents.  Assigned to the medical corps, Private Travis was in his sophomore year at Montrose High School when he entered the service on Nov. 1, 1942.  He was a former Endicott Johnson Corp. employee and was one of the first 17-year-olds to enlist in the army from this area at the time the enlistment program for youths of that age was started.  Besides his parents, he is survived by three brothers, Second Class Seaman Jack Travis, serving with a detachment out of New York City; Jerome and Richard and two sisters, Linda lee and Sharon Ann.  [Binghamton Press, Sept. 27, 1944]

Sgt. Lee Powell

Marine Sgt. Lee Powell, the red-masked Lone Ranger of the movies, who galloped through rip-roarin' serials on a white stallion named "Silver," has been killed in action in the South Pacific.

Long Beach, Cal.:  Sgt. Lee Powell, 35, of the U.S. Marine Corps, who as the red-masked Lone Ranger rode his white stallion through 15 episodes of a motion picture serial, has been killed in action, his widow, Mrs. Norma Powell, said today.  With the Marines in the South Pacific since November, 1942, Powell fought at Tarawa and Saipan.  Mrs. Powell said she was not informed where he met his death.  Powell attended the University of Montana, where he was a football and track star.  He toured the united States and Canada with Wallace Brothers Circus in his Lone Ranger character.  [New York Post, August 30, 1944]

Sgt. Howard Jeffrey, Jr. Complete Orientation Command
Bainbridge News & Republican, September 21, 1944

An Air Service Command Station in England:  Sgt. Howard W. Jeffrey, Jr., the son of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Jeffrey, of New Berlin [Chenango Co., NY], and grandson of Mrs. H.S. Whiting, of Guilford, recently completed an orientation course designed to bridge the gap between training in the States and combat soldiering against the enemy in France. At this air service command station, Sgt. Jeffrey attended a series of lectures given by battleuse veterans, which included instructions on chemical warfare defense, and pertinent tips on staying healthy in a combat theatre.  His next station will be one from which America's fighting planes cover our liberation of occupied Europe.  Before entering the A.A.F.'s he was employed in the accounting department of the Norwich Pharmacal Co. in Norwich.  He has a wife, the former Cora Mae Ives, and young son living in Guilford with her parents, Mrs. and Mrs. Stuart B. Ives.

Pvt. William Smith Awarded Presidential Unit Citation
Bainbridge News & Republican, September 21, 1944

An Eighth AAF Fighter Station, Eng.:  Pvt. William F. Smith, 44 Greenlawn avenue, Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY], is a member of an Eighth Fighter Command P-47 Thunderbolt Group which has been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for "exceptional aggressiveness, outstanding performance of duty and extra-ordinary heroism in action."  This was accomplished in "conflict necessitating hazardous journeys over water and enemy-occupied territory far beyond the normal range of fighter aircraft."  The group is commanded by Col. Hubert Zemke, of Missoula, Mont.  Official announcement of the award entitles all personnel to wear the Unit Citation ribbon of blue with a gold border over the right pocket.  Since beginning combat operations in April, 1943, this fighter group has destroyed approximately 550 German planes in the air, plus 50 more on the ground.  It is the highest-scoring P-47 Thunderbolt Outfit in the European Theatre of Operations.  Paying tribute to members of his command, Col. Zemke said:  "Our success in the air was made possible by the men on the ground.  Hours of hard work are behind every victory our pilots have scored over the Hun.:"  Private smith, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Clair M. Smith, same address as above, is an armorer on one of his squadron airplanes.

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