Welcome to the Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum Columbus, Indiana

World War II "The Greatest Generation"

World War II Victory Medal

Joseph B. Anderson of Elizabethtown graduated from Columbus High School in 1937, then worked on his father’s farm until entering the service in November 1941. A waist gunner on a Flying Fortress, Anderson was killed in the European Theater Jan. 13, 1943. On Mother’s Day 1943, his mother received his Air Medal for completion of five combat missions over enemy territory.

Jesse Thomas Baker, 30, of Walesboro worked at Cummins Engine Co. for eight years before entering the service Dec. 8, 1943. He wrote his wife Jan. 7, 1945, that he was leaving for combat the next morning in France. He was killed three days later.

Clarence "Tornado" Bell, 24, one of southern Indiana’s best-known softball pitchers with his feared windmill delivery, was killed in Italy Oct. 18, 1944, while serving with an infantry unit of the 85th Division, 5th Army. A member of Jonesville Christian Church, he had hoped to enter the publishing business with the Hope Star-Journal when he returned from service.

Edward W. Blair, 27, of East Columbus joined Company C, 131st Infantry at age 17. His unit had just been moved from Bataan Peninsula to Corregidor when he wrote home that he was doing well. A taxi driver before joining the service, he did not write much about his service overseas except that he would have a lot to tell the folks when he got home. He was killed in action May 8, 1945, on Luzon, leaving behind a wife and child.

Howard F. Boxman, 21, of Route 8 was an engineer-gunner on an Eighth Air Force B-24 Liberator bomber, operating out of England. The last letter his parents received was written June 23, 1944, the day before he was killed over France. A 1940 Columbus High School graduate, he worked at Reeves Pulley Co. and was engaged to be married when he enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1942.

Glenn Bowers Jr. lived in a wheelchair the last 14 years of his life. He died Dec. 18, 1958, from injuries inflicted in 1944 when a sniper’s bullet hit him in the back. He was paralyzed from the waist down. Before going into the service (he trained at Camp Atterbury with the 83rd Division) he had worked at Columbus Auto Supply.

Rondal C. Brown, who lived in Columbus for two years with his wife and baby, was killed in Belgium in November 1944. He was working at a filling station before he entered the Army in February 1943. He was listed as missing in action.

William "Buddy" Brown of Edinburgh was killed Feb. 4, 1944, on Mount Castellone in Italy. Moments before his company fell under heavy artillery fire, Brown, a rifleman, helped repel an enemy patrol.

Elbert Bumbalough, 25, the oldest of seven sons of a Clifford-area farm family, was killed in Italy Jan. 21, 1944. He had been serving with an infantry unit of the 5th Army.

Thomas Murray Carmichael entered the Marine Corps in March 1943 at age 18 and never returned home. His last letter to his family, which resided on a farm near Ogilville, was that he was stationed near Saipan. He was killed in the South Pacific in August 1944.

Garnett Loren Cavender, 34, of Columbus was killed along with several shipmates June 19, 1944, in the Pacific area. His parents were notified that their son received the last rites of the Catholic Church be- fore he and his fallen shipmates were buried at sea.

Donald G. Clark, 20, of Columbus and formerly of Clifford, wrote his parents Aug. 11, 1944, and the letter arrived here on what would have been his 21st birthday. An infantryman serving with the famed 1st Division, one of the spearheads of the invasion of Normandy, he was killed in France on Aug. 16, 1944. He attended Clifford High and was a member of Clifford Methodist Church.

Harley Clark had served in the Pacific from 1942 to 1944 as technician with an aviation outfit. The former Clifford resident had escaped injury from combat but came down with malaria in the last months of his assignment. He was shipped to the United States where he was treated for the illness and seemed on the road to recovery. However in February 1945 he was re-admitted to a veterans hospital in Indianapolis, where he died.

Merle Jackson Clark, 20, of the Hope area was killed in action while serving with the Navy on a warship. He told his family that he had taken part in the invasion of Tarawa and other Pacific operations.

Hugo Claycamp, 19, of Jonesville was a member of the Columbus High School band and graduated in 1942. He entered the Army on March 13, 1943, but fell ill at Fort Lawton, Wash. After a three-month illness, Claycamp, a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church at Jonesville, died of rheumatic fever.

John Henry Cox, 23, of Columbus worked at Wendel Bros. contractors before entering the Army in March 1944. His family believes he was serving with the 43rd Infantry Division on Luzon in the Philippines, where he was killed March 12, 1945. Survivors included his wife and 2-year-old son.

Ben Crouch, an employee of Superior Gas Station and City Cemetery and a two-year resident of Columbus, was a teen-ager when he entered the Army in February 1943. Friends described him as a little fellow with red hair, many freckles and an engaging manner. He died of wounds believed suffered with the 1st Infantry Division in Normandy in July 1944.

John W. Crump of Columbus, a graduate of Columbus High School, received the Air Medal and four Oak Leaf clusters for his service on a Fortress crew. The flier was killed on a mission Feb. 15, 1943, over Europe. He was listed as missing in action for more than a year before his death was confirmed.

Jack N. Durbin, 20, of Columbus had planned to make the Marine Corps a career after the war. Instead he became Bartholomew County’s first confirmed war death. He was in the service only four months after working at Reliance Manufacturing Co. and at Camp Atterbury as an apprentice carpenter. The machine-gunner first class arrived at his overseas destination in about March 1943, but drowned in some unspecified action. He was buried at sea.

Gerald B. Eckelman, 26, of Whitecreek, an infantryman, was killed in France, his family learned in August 1944. A former Noblitt-Sparks Industries employee, he en-listed in the Army Nov. 10, 1943, and went overseas five months later. Family members, including his wife, heard from him nearly every day — until July 15, 1944.

Herschel B. Eckelman of the Whitecreek area, a combat engineer with Gen. Patton’s 3rd Army, was killed in February 1945 in Belgium. His cousin, Pvt. Gerald B. Eckelman, also was killed in France. Lt. Eckelman had been slightly wounded four times during service in France, Luxembourg, Germany and Belgium. He had been directing the removal of mine fields. A member of Whitecreek Lutheran Church, Eckleman left a wife and baby son, whom he never saw.

Aaron Woodrow Essex, 32, of Hope was among 517 soldiers listed missing after a troop ship was sunk in European waters on Christmas 1944. Another 248 soldiers were killed outright, and 1,400 were rescued. Pfc. Ross Becker, a medic from Hope, wrote his family that he survived the same incident. Essex’s survivors included a wife and small child.

Robert E. Ferrenburg, who was born at Elizabethtown and attended school at Scipio, worked at Noblitt-Sparks Industries. He served with the 83rd Infantry Division, formerly stationed at Camp Atterbury. The last letter his wife received was written Oct. 5, 1944, three days before he was killed in Luxembourg. He also was survived by two daughters and a stepson.

Donald Fields, 23, of Ogilville was upset that his brother, Charles, beat him overseas, although it was only by a week. A Columbus High School graduate, he entered the Army July 24, 1942, after working at Camp Atterbury. Fields was serving with an infantry regiment of the 95th Division in Gen. Patton’s 3rd Army. He wrote home often, but never mentioned what he was doing. He died of wounds Nov. 11, 1944, in France.

Curtis Edward Bill Findley, 27, worked as a machinist at Cummins Engine Co. for about five years before entering the Army April 25, 1944. An expert marksman, he wrote his aunt from a foxhole in the Italian mountains, declaring it had been snowing continuously and that it was hard to keep his paper dry. The letter was blotted by snowflakes. He was killed Feb. 10, 1945, in Italy, leaving behind a wife and three young daughters. His family had moved from Bartholomew County to near Seymour.

John N. Fuel, a former Noblitt-Sparks Industries employee, attended Hartsville Grade School and Hope High School. He entered the service in July 1942, and his family believes he was serving with the 80th Infantry Division in France. He was killed Oct. 16, 1944, in France. Survivors included a wife and a young son, whom he had seen only once.

Walter Eugene Golden, 21, was a Navy air cadet training in a large PBY patrol plane at Pensacola, Fla. The plane crashed and burned during a landing in January 1945, killing three of the five men aboard. His parents rushed from Hope to Pensacola after being informed of the crash, but they were met at the train station by a chaplain, who informed them their son had died.

Frederick L. Graham, 20, was born in Hope and lived in rural Columbus, where he attended school. He worked at Golden Foundry before entering the Army in April 1943. While training for the Airborne Division, he was injured in a parachute leap, but soon recovered and remained with his glider infantry unit. He was killed in January 1945 in Belgium.

Leonard A. Graham, 25, of Columbus attended local grade schools and was a member of the Christian Church. He entered the service March 31, 1941, and served in North African, Italian and German campaigns with Company A, 180th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Division. He was killed April 30, 1945, the last week of the European war. His cousin, Pvt. Frederick L. Graham, was killed Jan. 7, 1945, in the battle for Bastogne.

Delmar F. Green, 25, lived in Columbus two years, working at Ackenback Tire Service, before entering the service. He left with local National Guard units in January 1941, and eventually served with the infantry regiment of the 30th Division. He was killed in France July 28, 1944. Survivors included his wife.

Gordon H. Haggard, 36, of Hope graduated from Butler University and Indiana University School of Medicine. He practiced medicine in Hope for seven years until he was assigned to the medical troops at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., in 1940. A flight surgeon with a B-17 Flying Fortress group, he was listed as missing in action over Germany Oct. 7, 1944. 

Earl O. Hall of Elizabethtown entered the National Guard Jan. 27, 1941, after attending Columbus High School. He went overseas with the 13th Infantry Regiment of the 8th Division in December 1943 and went into combat as a patrol leader July 13, 1944. He was wounded July 17 near Cherbourg, France, and went back into battle Aug. 9. He was killed Sept. 1, 1944, in France during mopping-up operations against German troops pocketed in Brittany during the D-Day campaign. Survivors included his wife. He was a member of Petersville Methodist Church.

Ernest W. Hall of Route 3, who had been serving in an infantry unit, was killed Aug. 2, 1944, in France. He wrote his parents that he had been wounded July 17.

Carl R. Heagy, 28, a former Firestone Service Store employee, sent a letter to his parents in Columbus Dec. 17, 1944, plus a Christmas card a few days later. It was the last they heard from their son, whom they believed was serving with the 30th Division in Belgium. He was listed as missing Dec. 27, 1944.

Russell Edward Henderson, 20, of Columbus worked at Farmers Marketing Association for two years before entering the service Aug. 9, 1943. He went overseas in February 1944 and was assigned to an infantry unit at the Anzio beachhead. His family at first thought Henderson was a prisoner of the Germans after what a buddy had termed "the most furious fighting of the war." However, he was killed May 27, 1944, in Italy.

Ralph E. Hill, 19, of German Township played football for Columbus High School before graduating in 1942. He started aviation training Jan. 29, 1943. He was in training only a few weeks when his brother, Lt. Wayne E. Hill, was killed in the crash of a medium bomber at Harlingen, Texas. Another brother, Billy Hill, was wounded Jan. 16, at Arawe, New Britain, while serving in the Army. Ralph Hill was killed Feb. 7, 1944, in an airplane crash at Tulsa, Okla.

Wayne E. Hill, 21, of Edinburgh graduated from Columbus High School in 1938 after playing guard on the Bull Dog football team. He worked at Noblitt-Sparks Industries before enlisting in the Army Air Force in December 1940. He was killed in March 1943 in the crash of a medium bomber at the Army gunnery school at Harlingen, Texas. He was one of 21 members of the football team in the military service.

Ernest "Jack" W. Hogan of Columbus, a former Cummins Engine Co. employee, wrote his wife that his company was in a rest camp in France after suffering a number of casualties. He was killed Sept. 26, 1944, two days before his 26th birthday, while serving with Gen. Patton’s 3rd Army. He had arrived overseas in a brace after surviving an explosion while on maneuvers in Arizona that killed six soldiers and wounded four others. His brother, Staff Sgt. 

Robert E. Hogan, waist gunner on a B-24 Liberator, was a prisoner of war in Germany. Hogan was survived by his wife and young son.

George W. Horton, 24, a former employee of the DuPont Co., entered the service in Bartholomew County Sept. 17, 1943. He was killed Sept. 3, 1944, in France. Survivors included his wife, who lived in Madison.

George Edward Irwin, formerly of Newbern, attended Columbus High School and entered the Navy Dec. 29, 1938. He was killed Nov. 13, 1942, when the cruiser Juneau went down in a battle below Savo Island in the Solomon Islands. The cruiser had been damaged and was steaming toward its base when an explosion sent it to the bottom. The five Sullivan brothers of Waterloo, Iowa, also were lost on the Juneau.

Damon Judd, 31, of Columbus was employed by Thompson Dairy before entering the Seabees in October 1943. He had been stationed on Saipan for about four months when he died of pneumonia Feb. 7, 1945. Relatives were unaware he was ill. Survivors included his wife, who lived in California.

Lowell J. Kanouse, 25, was a native of the Hope area, attended Hope Wesleyan Church and was a truck driver before entering the service in January 1941, a year before his twin brother, Lewis. The pair served together for much of the war, including on Okinawa where Lowell was killed April 20, 1945. The twins, attached to the 96th Division, survived shrapnel from a bomb a month earlier. Lowell’s wife lived in Louisiana.

Arthur W. Keller, a graduate of Scipio High, worked at Cummins Engine Co. before entering the Army Air Corps as an air cadet on June 23, 1943. He was a turret gunner on one of the 500 B-29 Super Fortresses that raided Japan May 14, 1945. The third-largest city in Japan, Nagoya, was burned and blackened by more than a million jellied gasoline fire bombs. Keller’s was one of two bombers shot down in the raid. He had been overseas only a few weeks. Survivors included his wife and young daughter.

Frederick Paul Keller, 26, of Columbus, an electrician at Noblitt-Sparks Industries, entered the service March 25, 1941. He went overseas early in 1944, serving in Hawaii and New Guinea before going to the Philippines, where he won the Combat Infantryman Badge on Bataan. He wrote his parents that he hoped to be home by December 1945, when he planned to be married. He was killed July 14, 1945, on Luzon.

Chester Lane, 20, of Ogilville worked at Noblitt-Sparks Indus- tries before joining the service in March 1943. His training was interrupted by a broken arm he sustained playing football at Camp Rucker, Ala. Initially attached to a tank destroyer battalion, he went overseas as an infantry replacement before being reassigned to tanks. A member of Ogilville United Brethren Church, he wrote home on election day, expressing interest on who would become sheriff. He was killed Nov. 14, 1944, while serving with Patton’s 3rd Army near Metz.

Robert Lind, 20, wrote his father in Edinburgh that he would be sending his locker home from Maryland because he expected to go overseas soon. He entered the Army Air Force as a flying cadet at age 18, immediately after the age limit was dropped from 20. His father said combat duty was Robert’s highest ambition. Stationed at Camp Springs Field, Washington, D.C., he was killed in September 1943 in an airplane accident in Maryland.

Hubert W. Loesch had planned to come home to Columbus for a Thanksgiving furlough from his duty assignment at Fort Jackson, S.C., when he suddenly became ill. His parents were summoned to his bedside, but by the time they had arrived by plane he had died. The 22-year-old Columbus High School graduate had worked at Cummins Engine Co. before entering service.

Harley W. "Bukie" Long, 27, entered service in July 1943 after spending his entire life in Bartholomew County, including a job with Kaler Candy Co. He was home in January 1944 for leave before going to North Africa, then Italy as a replacement in a veteran infantry division. Harley wrote his wife and parents about being in heavy fighting in Italy, including one letter that his black hair was turning gray. He also told about shells falling so close that they covered him up with dirt in his foxhole. He was killed April 23, 1944, on the Anzio beachhead in Italy.

William F. Lucas, 28, was a member of the swimming team at Columbus High School. He graduated from Indiana University and was working in the finance department at L.S. Ayres and Co. in Indianapolis before enlisting as a flying cadet in the Marine Corps. He was killed in an airplane accident. Details were not available, al though it was believed he was with a Grumann Wildcat fighter squadron in the South Pacific. His body was not recovered. Survivors included his new wife, who was expecting a child.

Lowell A. "Gus" Mahoney, 23, of Columbus was a leading player on the Columbus Bull Dog golf team, an enthusiastic follower of the Bull Dog basketball team and a regular contestant in the Shootin’ Stars "picking" contest. A Cummins Engine Co. employee, he entered the service June 22, 1944. He was killed March 3, 1945, in Germany while serving as a machine gunner with the 26th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Division. Survivors included his wife and son.

Carl E. McMillan attended Columbus High School for two years, playing clarinet in the band, before leaving to work on the family farm. A member of Elizabethtown Christian Church, he entered the Marine Corps Sept. 30, 1943, and trained in San Diego, but after that he was unable to disclose his location. He was believed to have been stationed with a replacement center and that he joined a combat unit as a replacement in the invasion of Saipan in the Mariana Islands. He was killed about July 1944.

Chester Lee McNealy of Rugby entered the Navy in December 1944 at age 18 and was on the crew of the USS Hobbs Victory, a supply ship. His family received letters through April 3, 1945, but learned in May 1945 that he was killed during action in the Pacific, although no details were available.

Erven Frank Meyer, 27, of the Whitecreek community was a carpenter before joining the service Feb. 21, 1944. He was killed Jan. 7, 1945, in Belgium, while serving as an infantryman in the 83rd Division, 1st Army. His best friend was Pvt. Gerald B. Eckelman, who was born on the same day as Meyer. The two witnessed each other’s marriages. Eckelman was killed five months earlier in France. Meyer’s survivors included his wife and daughter, who was only 3 months old when Meyer entered the Army.

Martin W. Miller, 33, of Columbus was working at Allison Engineering Division in Indianapolis when he joined the service Aug. 25, 1943. He attended Columbus High School and was a member of St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. He wrote several family members April 20, 1945, from southern Germany, where it was believed he was serving with an infantry division, saying that it was daylight and that action was quiet and he was fine. Also, it appeared the war there was almost over. He never wrote much of his experiences, but said it was difficult to write relatives of men who had been casualties. He was killed that day.

Donald Lee Moore of Walesboro worked at Cummins Engine Co. when he entered the service in March 1943. He went overseas in about July 1944, serving as a mortar gunner with the 90th Division. He wrote his parents Aug. 16, 1944, that he was well and had been living on field rations for some time. "Tell everyone hello," he wrote. His father believed he was killed on his first trip into the lines.

Paul Martin Nading, 29, of Flat Rock attended Clifford High School and worked at Stafford Grain Elevator and Presto-Lite Co. in Indianapolis before joining the service in September 1944. He went to the Philippines as an infantry replacement in January after coming home on a 10-day leave. He wrote home every day in June until June 22, 1945, three days before his death in Southern Luzon. A member of St. Louis Crossing Methodist Church, his survivors included his wife.

Floyd Noe lived with his wife in Nebraska in Jennings County for seven years before moving to East Columbus. He entered the service Nov. 10, 1943. He went overseas in June 1944 and was there only a short time before going to France, where he was serving with an infantry unit. He was killed Aug. 1, 1944.

Neal W. Noland, 21, graduated from Columbus High School in 1939 and entered the Army Air Force in April 1941. He served as a bull turret gunner on a Flying Fortress and was promoted to staff sergeant after being in England for only a month. A member of Columbus Christian Church, he was killed July 7, 1944, in England.

Jeanne Lewellen Norbeck was a young wife when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Instead of assuming the traditional role of women at the time, she joined a service. She was one of just over 1,000 women who earned their wings flying military planes during World War II. The daughter of the president of Lewellen Manufacturing was assigned to test aircraft at an Army Air Base in South Carolina. On an October day in 1944 she was flying a plane that lost control and crashed. She was killed instantly, becoming the first and only woman from Bartholomew County to die in military service. 

Walter Ott Jr., 22, of Route 7 was listed as missing in action for almost a year before his parents were notified that he was presumed dead. He was serving as a turret gunner on a B-24 in the China-Burma-India Theater.

Homer E. Reedy, 23, of Columbus was employed, along with his brother, Charles, by King’s Taxi Co. He grew up in Ogilville and was a member of Ogilville United Brethren Church. He was killed Dec. 17, 1945, the day after a German breakthrough in Belgium. Charles, who was inducted into the same group as Homer, was in a hospital in England after being wounded July 30 in France.

Milton C. Reeves, 24, graduated from Columbus High School in 1934 at the age of 15. He received a mechanical engineering degree from Purdue University and was studying in Stockholm as an exchange student when war broke out. A member of First Presbyterian Church, he entered the service through ROTC in 1942 and was serving as an artillery officer with the Army. He failed to return from a reconnaissance mission for establishment of a new sound base south of Mignano, Italy, on Nov. 23, 1943. He was listed as missing for almost two years before his parents were informed of his death.

Richard A. Regan, 40, a 20-year Navy veteran, served as recruiting officer in Columbus. He received a Silver Star for his part as one of the crewmen of a mosquito boat that took Gen. MacArthur from Corregidor to another part of the Philippines where a bomber picked up the general and took him to Australia. Warrant Officer Regan remained in the Philippines and was captured. He was killed Oct. 24, 1944, in the China Sea, when the unmarked prisoner of war ship he was on was sunk by an American submarine which had no way of knowing the ship carried prisoners. Pvt. Frank K. Sachleben of Bartholomew County also died in the incident. Regan’s survivors included his wife and two young children.

Howard P. Reno, 50, of Columbus operated a barbershop on Washington Street just north of Fifth Street for several years. He served in the 82nd Division in World War I and was called to service in World War II. He was serving with the Army Air Force as an administrative officer at Chanute Field, Ill., where he died in January 1942 of an unspecified cause. 

Melvin Richeson, 32, attended Columbus High School and was a member of East Columbus Christian Church. He lived on a farm north of Columbus with his sister when he was inducted. He was killed July 12, 1944, in France while serving with an infantry unit.

Francis E. Robertson, 30, a Columbus native, graduated from Columbus High School in 1933 and attended the Methodist Church. He worked for the Kaler Candy and Tobacco Co. several years before joining the service in January 1943. Robertson was a member of a tank battalion and had been in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany after going overseas in August 1943. He was killed April 8, 1945, in Germany. Survivors included his wife and young son.

Max Clinton Robertson, 23, graduated from Hope High School in 1938 and worked for Kingan Co. in Indianapolis before entering the Navy April 27, 1942. He served as a radioman and gunner on a Navy dive bomber in the Southwest Pacific, including strikes against a Japanese base at Truk. He returned to the United States in March 1944 and was killed in an airplane crash at Bodega Head, Calif.

Bernard Ross, 25, graduated from Hope High School in 1937 and attended the University of Cincinnati for a year before working at the Allison plant in Indianapolis. He joined the service in June 1943 and trained at Freeman Field in Seymour before going to the Philip-pines March 1, 1945. He was killed in an airplane crash there on May 27, 1945. Since he was not a combat aviator, his family believes the accident may have occurred while he was being transferred from one post to another. The survivors of Ross, a member of First Methodist Church, included his wife.

Frank K. Sachleben lived in Bartholomew County for 12 years before being inducted March 31, 1941. He went to the Philippines with the 803rd Engineer Battalion at Manila when the Japanese attacked. He was listed as missing in May 1942, and in April 1943 it was learned he was a prisoner. His family heard from him by postcard in January 1944. He was among the 1,766 prisoners of war killed while being transported northward from the Philippine Islands on a Japanese ship, which was sunk by a U.S. submarine Oct. 24, 1944, in the South China Sea, more than 200 miles from the Chinese coast. Five prisoners escaped in a small boat and reached the coast; four were picked up by the Japanese; all others were lost. Warrant Officer Richard A. Regan, a former Columbus recruiting officer, also died in the incident.

Francis E. Scheidt, 19, of Columbus attended Columbus High School before enlisting in the Navy in September 1942. He was killed in action Oct. 7, 1943, when the destroyer USS Chevalier was torpedoed in a battle with the Japanese in the South Pacific near Vella Lavella Island. In circling to get clear, the Chevalier was involved in a collision and was cut in two. Scheidt was listed as missing in action for about a year.

Joseph Bernard Schwartzkopf, 30, of Columbus graduated from Columbus High School in 1932 and Indiana University in 1936. A member of the Presbyterian Church, he was well known among his high school class since he belonged to many organizations. He studied chemistry in college, where he was Phi Beta Kappa. He was active in band in high school and college. Schwartzkopf received his commission in November 1941 and was stationed in the Marshall and Gilbert islands in August 1943. He was hoping to be home on furlough for Christmas 1944 but was killed on Thanksgiving Day 1944 while serving as an aviation gunner’s officer.

Raymond Eugene Schroghines, 20, attended school in Vernon before working in the mirror division of Noblitt-Sparks Industries. He joined the service in February 1942. He wrote his grandmother in Hope on Sept. 20, 1943, the day after he turned 20. "Well, Grandma, it’s a rough road, but we have to follow. When this is over we will share our love together." He was killed Sept. 29, 1943, in Italy.

Emmett L. Shackelford, 19, of Columbus wrote home from a foxhole at the front on Christmas Day 1944. He had just recovered from wounds received while in sight of the Rhine when he returned to action and was killed April 2, 1945, in Germany. A former employee of Golden Foundry, he entered the service Jan. 31, 1944.Edwin W. Sharp, 27, attended school in Columbus before entering the service Sept. 28, 1940. He was stationed in Iceland for 17 months before returning stateside. He went to England in the winter of 1943, then to France for the invasion. He was killed July 4, 1944, in France.

Russell E. Shepherd, 20, of Hartsville was a junior in high school when he entered the Army in April 1943. He served as a gunner-engineer on a B-24 Liberator with the 467th Bomber Group. In his last letter to his parents, on Feb. 12, 1945, he said, "I’m sure glad I’m not in the infantry." He added that the Air Corps "isn’t so bad as long as you don’t get shot down." He was reported missing over Germany on that same day.

Donald E. Shoaf, 18, of Hope enlisted in the Navy May 26, 1944, after graduating from Hope High School. His parents received a package containing his belongings and a letter informing them of his death, but did not receive official word until March that he died of malaria and pneumonia, Jan. 26, 1945, while serving on a warship in the Pacific.

Reed L. Smith Jr., 26, of Columbus and later Burnsville, was killed on Luzon in the Philippines on Feb. 8, 1945. It is believed he died in the conquest of Bataan. He was serving with the 38th Division, which was made up of former National Guardsmen from Indiana and neighboring states.

Robert Lloyd Smith, 21, of Elizabethtown attended Columbus High School and worked at Noblitt-Sparks Industries Inc. He joined the service March 23, 1942, and wrote his mother that he was leaving the states in June. He died when the USS Astoria was blown up in the Solomon Islands area Aug. 9, 1942. According to The Evening Republican records, Smith was the first Bartholomew County serviceman to die in World War II.

Robert B. Spicer, 22, of Columbus graduated from Columbus High School in 1940 and worked at Allison Engineering Corp. in Indianapolis. He entered the Army Air Force Oct. 13, 1942, and went overseas in December 1944 as an expert mechanic. He was killed over Yugoslavia on July 16, 1944, while serving as first engineer on a B-24 Liberator bomber based in Italy. Survivors included his wife and young son.

Wilbur H. Steinkamp, 24, of Route 2 was killed in 1944 in a plane crash near Peterson Field in Colorado. He was undergoing the final phase of his training as a pilot of a B-24 Liberator bomber. He was the first victim of World War II to be brought home for burial. Fifty years later, his dog tags were discovered and returned to the family.

James Rowland Stout, 27, was manager of the L.B. Price Mercantile Co. on Fourth Street and was active in local bowling leagues and golf and was a former city table tennis champion in Indianapolis. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal during seven months overseas, where he flew 30 combat missions in the European theater as the pilot of a B-17 Flying Fortress. He returned to the United States in September 1944 and was assigned to the Office of Flying Safety in Santa Ana, Calif. He was killed in January 1945 in an airplane crash at Douglas, Ariz. Two fliers with him bailed out, but Stout remained with the ship, trying to right it after the controls had gone bad. Survivors included his wife and daughter.

James V. Stringer, 31, of Columbus worked at Reeves Pulley Co. before entering the service in January 1942. A member of the Church of Christ, he was serving aboard the minesweeper USS Skill, which was hit by a torpedo as it led a convoy into Salerno. It sank in 30 minutes. Many casualties were listed as missing in action for a year before being declared dead. 

Joseph H. "Bud" Stroup, 28, of Hartsville, a graduate of Hope High School, worked on the Ben Ropp farm near Petersville before joining Company C of the local National Guard. He served in Ireland, England and North Africa. He died Aug. 31, 1944, at a rest camp in North Africa, following an attack of appendicitis. His brother, Seaman 2nd Class George Stroup Jr., visited the rest camp Sept. 2 to see his brother but was informed of his death and was taken to his grave. 

Joseph B. Stuckey, of Route 2, a former employee of Bartholomew County Beverage Co., entered the service in April 1943 and went over- seas in August 1944. He was killed Sept. 3, 1944, when a government vehicle in which he was riding collided with another vehicle while in a convoy in Chartres, France.

James William Thompson was one of the more active members of the Columbus High School Class of 1943. He was especially gifted in debating. Ironically he enlisted in the Air Force while his father, Orville Thompson, was chairman of the Bartholomew County Selective Service board. He flew as a tail-gunner on a B17 flying fortress and received several commendations. On Dec. 29, 1944, his plane was shot down over Europe. He was unable to bail out.

Maurice Thornburg needed only 50 minutes of flight time to complete his tour of duty as a transport pilot when he boarded a plane in March 1945 in Scotland. The 23-year-old Columbus High School graduate was shot down and killed. As a transport pilot he had flown several dignitaries and had flown 999 hours and 10 minutes prior to his death. According to custom, pilots were to be rotated stateside after completing 1,000 hours.

Ernest Albert Trimpe, 20, left March 31, 1943, to begin training with the U.S. Marine Corps, and he never returned. He fought on the Marshalls, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. He was wounded in Saipan but continued fighting, then was hospitalized for 10 days from shrapnel wounds suffered on Tinian. He fought at Iowa Jima despite having a hand in a cast from an accidental bayonet wound. He wrote home to Waymansville that "After this is all over (brother and Army sgt.) Jim and I will come home and continue where we left off. Home will once again be the same." His father died suddenly two days after he wrote the letter. Trimpe was killed Feb. 27, 1945. 

John B. Trotter, 24, a graduate of Columbus High School and Purdue University (1941), was teaching at Flat Rock High School when he entered the Army Nov. 10, 1943. He served with a flash and sound section on an artillery unit and was killed June 29, 1944, in the European Theater.

Loren J. Voiles, 33, of Columbus worked at Noblitt-Sparks Industries when he joined the service April 15, 1941. He went overseas in November 1943 and served in North Africa about six weeks before moving to Italy. Serving as an infantryman with the 5th Army, he died June 3, 1944, of wounds suffered May 27 in Italy.

Everett Leon Wagner, a native of Walesboro, graduated from Columbus High School in 1938 and worked in the Cummins Engine Co. tool room. A short time before his induction into the Army Air Corps in January 1944, he joined First Baptist Church. He was killed on his 26th birthday in a motorcycle-automobile accident near San Antonio, Texas, where he was training.

William Donald Weales, 19, of Columbus graduated from Columbus High School in 1943 and worked at Cummins Engine Co. before entering the Army Air Force in September 1943. A member of Wertz Memorial United Brethren Church, he was a radio operator on a B-17 bomber in the European Theater. He was shot down over Aussig and Dresden, Germany, on his first mission, less than one month after arriving in England. Two members of the crew parachuted to safety and were liberated prisoners of war. They stated they never saw other members of the crew after leaving the plane.

Ellis Eldon Whitis, 18, applied for enlistment through the Columbus Navy office May 20, 1944, a year to the day before the telegram reporting his death was received. He moved to Hope in about 1940 and was employed at Camp Atterbury. He was killed around May 1945 while serving at sea. He was buried at sea.

John H. Williams, 22, entered the Army Signal Corps Reserve in December 1942 while a student at Purdue University. A 1940 Columbus High School graduate, he was a member of the Christian church, the high school band and was a carrier of The Evening Republican. He was serving as a radio operator in the intelligence reconnaissance of Headquarters Co. 22nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Division — the Rainbow Division — when he was killed March 31, 1945, in Germany.

Reed Williams of Columbus graduated from Columbus High School and worked in the Cummins Engine Co. service department. He completed the first degree in the Masonic Order before being inducted Dec. 8, 1943. A member of the 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, he was among the first American troops to arrive in Manila when he suffered a shrapnel wound Feb. 15, 1945. He wrote his parents that his sergeant had been wounded and that he was temporarily in charge of the men. He said it was a big responsibility but that God had been with him, and he had not yet lost a man. Williams was killed April 3, 1945, on Luzon. Survivors included his wife, who was expecting a child.

Sampson C. Willoughby, 21, of southwest Bartholomew County graduated from Columbus High School in 1942 and worked at Noblitt-Sparks Industries before entering the service March 11, 1943. He was serving with a tank battalion in the 80th Division in Germany for about two months when he wrote his parents that he could not answer all of their questions but for them to watch the newspaper accounts of the fighting. He was killed March 5, 1945. Survivors included his fiancee.

Carl Wilson had been drafted into service in January 1943 while he was working at V.E. Sprouse Co. After his induction his parents had moved to Indianapolis from their home on McKinley Ave. in Columbus. In September 1944 they received word that their son had been killed in action in France.

George Warren Wilson was a nephew of Otto Hughes, superintendent of Columbus city schools. He joined the Marines and was stationed in the South Pacific from June 1943 to July 7, 1944, when he was killed in the invasion of Saipan.

Alva Woodruff, 22, of Columbus enlisted in the Army in June 1942 and went overseas in November 1944. He was one of the 79 7th Army infantrymen who escaped from a German trap in the Siegfried line town of Bundenthal in December 1944 after being isolated for seven days. About a month later his company was overwhelmed by Germans near Bitche, France. He was missing in action for a year before his family was notified he had been buried in France.

Leslie E. Woods, 23, attended Columbus High School, specializing in machine shop work, then worked at Columbus Specialty Co. and Columbus Auto Supply. He entered the Army in October 1942 and was transferred from ordnance automotive school to infantry. After being sent overseas as an infantry replacement, he wrote home to Columbus saying, "Don’t let anybody tell you the Red Cross isn’t helping, because they are on the job day and night." He was killed March 23, 1945, in Germany.

Don M. Wright, 29, of Jonesville attended Columbus High School and was a member of the "Pups" high school second basketball team. A member of Jonesville Christian Church, he was employed by Cummins Engine Co. when he entered the service Jan. 14, 1944. He served in the infantry in the 1st Army in France and Belgium, then around Aachen and in Hurtgen Forest since August 1944. He served as a sergeant following the wounding of his unit’s regular sergeant. On Nov. 8, 1945, his wife received three letters from him. He was killed the same day in Germany.

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