WORLD WAR II - Victory Gardens

 

Planting a victory garden was part of the patriotic home effort. They could be a private garden at a home or sometimes they were planted in public parks or on school grounds because the more vegetables and fruits the U.S. could grow helped in having more for our soldiers.

Growing one's own food was a great way to supplement each family's food supply and it actually lowered the price of food bought by the War Department for the armed services.

Most people were growing and harvesting garden fare for the first time, so the Department of Agriculture got very involved in making this mission a success. They passed out brochures about planting, and when harvest came, they gave out free information on canning. Sometimes classes were held on food preservation.

One source reported that by May, 1943, there were over 18 million victory gardens in the United States. The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and even Germany were participating in the same campaigns.

School children were encouraged to participate so they could have their own gardens. Schools had communal gardens to keep on school grounds.

This was meant to be a big morale booster for the citizens at home - another way they could help the war effort and show their patriotism.

And remember, our first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, had a victory garden on the White House Lawn!

From The Crescent-News, April 17, 1945 -

WORLD WAR II MEMORIALS - PFC Bob Verness Speiser

 

PFC Bob Verness Speiser

Bob Speiser, son of Royal V. and Mildred Ruth (Snyder) Speiser was a 1939 graduate of Ney High School and was attending Findlay College when the war entered his world. Born in Defiance County on October 30, 1921, he was 20 years old when he filled out the required draft registration. He lived at 220 College Street in Findlay.

In a beautiful Christmas season wedding in December 1942, he married Miss Mary Ann Stringfellow of near Vanlue. He was a senior in college, and the couple had five days in Chicago to celebrate, and then their plan was to finish the last year of college.

Bob enlisted in Toledo on August 21, 1943, and the papers reported that he was single with three years of college, but actually, he had graduated from Findlay, and he was married. His residence was Hancock County.  He was first sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, and then Camp McCain in Mississippi for training, and then he was sent to the European Theater with the Third Army. He would be an infantryman.

He was sent from France into Germany in 1945 to the village above, Lampaden.

A bridge there was vital for the German supply line, and it was a target of the Americans. 

The German "attack in the village started on a night so black with no moon; their forces were a full company of mountain infantry, plus a platoon of engineers. The German tactics were excellent; the village was quietly by-passed, encircled and infiltration into the main street...  The Germans could be heard but not seen."

They surrounded two gun positions, and two of the enemy were shot while trying to position around the third. "After daybreak on March 6, the enemy attacked from all points and the fighting became fierce." Fighting was from house to house, and this was the situation when PFC Speiser became war's victim. The fighting continued into March 7, but now with machine gun fire and mortar fire, until the Germans were overcome and surrendered. (www.specialoperations.com)

PFC Speiser was first buried at the military cemetery in Ham, Luxembourg, but in July 1949, his remains were disinterred and sent home to be buried in the Ney Cemetery. News of his graveside rites appeared in the Crescent-News:

 

Ney Cemetery

A memorial for his unit.

Robert Carpenter, Researcher

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - CMFC Russell E. Skiver

 

Carpenter's Mate First Class

Russell Elwood Skiver

Russell Skiver entered the Navy in 1923 as a career military man. The son of Clayton E. Skiver and Electa Letitia Sanford, he grew up in Defiance. His mother died when he was about 10 and his father remarried. Russell eventually moved to San Diego, married, divorced, and continued on in his naval career.

He was reported missing in May 1942. The Crescent-News reported on May 21, 1942, on page one, the telegram received by his parents:

"Russell Elwood Skiver, 37, son of Clayton Skiver of 417 Summit street, has been reported missing by the U.S. Navy following capitulation of the Manila Bay territory, according to a telegram received here today.  The telegram said no report of his death or injury has been received and stated that he may be a prisoner of war.

Skiver, who has been with the Navy for 17 years, was an electrician mate first class. His last message to his father was sent from Singapore about a year ago while he was attached to the U.S. battleship Indiana.

Skiver has traveled the seven seas as a U.S. sailor. He was in Nicaragua during the revolt and for two years was in Chinese waters.

His father, Clayton, is now employed in construction work at Patterson Field near Dayton. He has two sisters Mrs. Alfred Burns, Okolona, and Mrs. Layman Grundy, Elyria. His stepmother and several half-brothers and half-sisters reside here.

The Navy's telegram, signed by Rear Admiral Randolph Jacobs, said Skiver was 'performing his duty in the service of the country in the Manila Bay when that station capitulated. He will be carried on the records of the Navy department as missing pending further information...It will probably be several months before definite official information can be expected concerning his status..."

 

In May, 1943, the conclusion was that Skiver was a prisoner of war of the Japanese and the family was notified. In September 1943, the family received a postcard from "Philippine Military Prison Camp No. 2, otherwise known as Davao. It was a printed card where the soldier was to underline words to describe himself. Russell indicated that his health was fair and that he was not under treatment. In the brief space to write, he directed that his sisters and former wife be notified that he was alive and a friend in San Diego was to "take care of everything; will see you soon."

The Americans used airstrikes over the Philippines, and as they did so, the Japanese, known for their harsh, abusive prisoner of war camps, were trying to get the able-bodied POWS back to Japan, while leaving the sick and weak behind. Davao was last in line for liberation with the Americans.

From the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency:

"Carpenter's Mate First Class Russell Elwood Skiver, who entered the U.S. Navy from California, served aboard the USS Mindano in the Philippines during World War II and was captured and taken as a POW following the Japanese invasion and was interned in the islands until December 1944, when he was put aboard the Oryoko Maru for transport to Japan.

On the morning of December 13, 1944, Japanese forces in the Philippines began the transfer of 1,621 Allied Prisoners of War to Japan. The POWS were to make the journey aboard transport ships whose harsh conditions and extreme overcrowding led survivors to refer to them as 'Hell Ships.'  The ships also lacked markings that would distinguish them from any other military target, causing some of them to be attacked by Allied forces who could not identify them as POW transports.

On December 14, 1944, Allied aircraft attacked the first ship, the Oryoku Maru, in Subic Bay, killing many Allied POWS who became lost in the water, sank with the ship, or were washed ashore. Survivors of the bombing were put on two other ships, the Enoura Maru and the Brazil Maru, to continue on to Japan..."

Oryoku Maru, a luxury ship repurposed for transport. POWS at the bottom in a very hot and airless hold, while Japanese soldiers and some civilians were in the cabins above.

"Records indicate CM1 Skiver died on January 10, 1945, due to wounds received several weeks later in the attack on the Enoura Maru. However, these reports often involve information solely furnished by enemy governments with some casualties given multiple dates of death. Further reports might find these were inaccurate. Reports also indicated that he was buried in a common grave in Takao Harbor and these collective remains were recovered and buried as unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. He is still unaccounted for today.

Carpenter's Mate First Class Skiver is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines."

Dianne Kline, Researcher

WORLD WAR MEMORIAL - PFC Robert W. Beindorf

 

PFC Robert William Beindorf

A noted athlete at Defiance High School, Robert grew up in Defiance, the first child and oldest son of Otto and Cleora (Ort) Beindorf at 709 Nicholas Street, Defiance.

 After graduation, he worked at the Christ Diehl Brewing Company. He filled out his draft registration at age 18, as expected, and by April 2, 1943, he was in Toledo at the enlistment facility. Out of 98 men examined, 55 were accepted into military service. Robert was an infantry man when he left that day. After induction on April 9, he and the others were given a seven-day furlough and then left Defiance by Greyhound bus for Camp Perry on the shores of Lake Erie, near Port Clinton.  From there, Robert went on to training at Fargo, North Dakota and Camp Gruber, Oklahoma. He was sent overseas in November 1944.

At some point he landed in France, into the Alsace region where Germany had invaded. Robert was only twenty when he met his death on January 26, 1945, near Schweighhausen, France while in Company F, 232nd Infantry.

Village in Alsace, France

Suellen McDaniel described the day in her report for the posthumous Bronze Star Medal: 

"During the action around Schweighhausen, France, Private Beindorf was with forward elements of his company when the enemy launched a strong counterattack on our positions. Despite intense mortar, machine gun and small arms fire striking all about him. he remained in an exposed position in order to effectively direct and adjust mortar fire on the attacking enemy forces. He continued to expose himself until fatally wounded by mortar fragments. Private Beindorf's courageous self-sacrifice enabled his mortar section to play a major role in repulsing the determined enemy attack."

He was the recipient of the Purple Heart.

His obituary appeared in the Crescent-News on February 19, 1945 on the front page:

   "R.W. BEINDORF DIES IN FRANCE.

Former D.H.S. Gridder and Golden Glover Killed Jan. 26"                                                                                                         Pfc. Robert W. Beindorf, 20, former Defiance high school gridder, trackman, and golden gloves boxer, was killed in action in France Jan. 26, according to official notification received Friday by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Otto W. Beindorf, 709 Nicholas Street.

He was an infantryman with the Seventh Army. Private Beindorf was inducted into the service April 9, 1943, and went overseas last November. He was Defiance County's 59th war fatality.

Surviving are his parents, his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ort, Hillsdale, Michigan; a sister, Marjorie,  and three brothers, Junior, Harold and Roger, all at home."

The remains of over 2700 soldiers who died in battle were sent home from Europe on the transport, Burma. Ohioans accounted for 150 of those, including Robert Beindorf. He was buried in Riverside Cemtery.

Riverside Cemetery

Robert Carpenter, Researcher

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - Petty Officer 3rd Class Frederick Franklin Hammer

 

Petty Officer 3rd Class 

Frederick Franklin Hammer

(Aviation Machinist Mate)

A Defiance native and a graduate of Defiance High School, Fred Hammer was the son of Carrol and Hazel Milicent (Hollabaugh) Hammer. He lived at 1036 South Clinton Street with his parents and two brothers, Leland and Marion, and his sister, Imogene. Born on October 22, 1918, he was just 24 when he enlisted in the Navy in 1942.

Fred trained in Chicago, IL and Jacksonville, FL to attain his specialty certification, Aviation Machinist Mate. After a five-day furlough in November 1942, with his family, Petty Officer Hammer found himself resuming his duties with the Atlantic Fleet out of Norfolk, Va.

His assignment was in Bermuda with the Air Vores, Atlantic Fleet, Air Wing Five, Patrol Squad 52.

A fatal accident happened on January 10, 1943, when he was in a 2 engine Consolidated PBY Catalina aircraft.

A report filed by the Aviation Patrol Squad reported 8 on board and 8 fatalities.

The report read as follows:

"The Catalina was attached to the U.S. Navy Patrol Squadron 52 (VP52), stationed at the Naval Operation Base, King's Point, Bermuda. During an early morning gunnery exercise, while attempting a pass over the target area on the water of Great Sound, the aircraft dove into the water at a high rate of speed five miles bearing 200 (degrees) from Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, Bermuda, causing the plane to crash.

Only one witness saw the complete maneuver leading up to the crash. He states that the aircraft was in level flight about one thousand feet, when it suddenly nosed down in a steep dive and crashed into the water with no apparent effort to recover. Three other witnesses first saw the airplane after it was in a dive at an estimated altitude of 400. They agreed that the aircraft was in a 60-degree dive with the left wing down approximately 45 degrees until the crash."

A memorial service was held in Defiance at Zion Lutheran Church in early February with members of the Herbert Anderson Post attending. The remains were unaccounted for, so Frederick's name was added to the Tablets of the Missing, the East Coast Monument, in Manhattan, NY.  A memorial also exists in Riverside Cemetery, Defiance, OH.

This poem, written by one of his shipmates, was sent by his commanding officer to the family with a letter of condolence:

"In Memoriam - in remembrance of Frederick F Hammer, Aviation Machinist's Mate 3/c, who made the supreme sacrifice for his country one year ago today, Jan 10, 1943-

In Memory

No marble stone adorns their grave

No mound of costly flowers;

Nor deeds heroic could we crave,

To help those bitter hours.

Their end - no glory to behold

Nor fame on which to soar,

But they as heroes are enrolle

In death - on ocean's floor.

No hero's life for these brave men

Who've flown the vast Atlantic

Through rain and storm and fog they've been

Without a trace of panic

And we who fly have great respect,

For courage and devotion;

Since , in our hearts, we too expect

A fate beneath the ocean,

Brave men have died; and in our sorrow

To a man we must proclaim

We shall always, on the morrow,

Prove their efforts not in vain."

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - Pvt. Eugene Cornelious Ball

 

Private Eugene Cornelious Ball

Born in Delta County, Michigan, on December 6, 1915, Eugene at some point became a resident of Ney with his parents, Francis "Frank" Alois and Clarissa Ann (Guerno) Ball . Eugene was a graduate of Ney High School, and then worked at American Steel Package Company on Squire Avenue in Defiance.

He was 26 when he enlisted on January 9, 1942, and he proceeded to Camp Perry, Ohio. He also trained at Camp Wolters, Texas; Camp McCoy, Wisconsin; Florida and South Carolina before being sent to England.

Pvt. Ball was part of Company K, 4th Infantry Division and he participated in the landing on Utah Beach in the invasion of Normandy, Operation Overlord. The unit landed on June 6, 1944, and Eugene was wounded and died on June 22, 1944.  He was admitted to the hospital after wounded with an artillery shell in the leg, as well as fragments and debris, but he could not be saved.

Disembarking at Utah Beach

The Crescent-News reported on December 4, 1944, that "Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ball, Ney, have received the Purple Heart which was posthumously awarded to their son, Eugene C. Ball, who was killed in France June 22."

Defiance Crescent-News, December 9, 1948.

It was a long wait for the family before Eugene was returned to the states for burial at Riverside Cemetery, Defiance.  Services were held for him in January 1949, at the Marysdale Catholic Church. He was buried with full military honors.

Riverside Cemetery

Special note: On August 15, 1945, Eugene's brother and wife, Mr. and Mrs. James Munro Ball had an infant son. They baptized him and honored the child with his brother's name, Eugene Clark Ball.

Robert Carpenter, Researcher

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - Seaman 1st Class Blake D. Musselman

 

Seaman 1st Class Blake Dearl Musselman

Mr. and Mrs. Royal Musselman welcomed their second son on January 25, 1920, in Emerald Township, Paulding, Ohio.  Royal David and Hazel E. (Donley) Musselman had two other children at the time:  Maynard, b. 1917 and Clela Etta (m. Garver), b. 1918. Later, in 1924, Rex would join the family. Blake attended both Paulding and Sherwood schools. 

Before enlisting, Blake worked as a machinist for Serrick's in Defiance. On January 12, 1942, he traveled to Toledo to enlist in the Navy Seabees. On the enlistment form, he described himself as 5'6" and 125 pounds, with brown hair and gray eyes.

 

Blake volunteered for the Seabees on  January 25, 1943, his twenty-third birthday, when they were first organizing as a construction unit of the U.S. Navy. Men were trained in sixty different trades, as well as military discipline and combat arts.

The U.S. had no other construction battalions, so the Seabees worked wherever they were needed.

Blake trained in Norfolk, Virginia, and Davisville, Rhode Island and sailed for the Pacific Islands from a California training camp.  Assigned to the 87th Construction Battalion, he served in the Pacific Arena - New Caldonia, Guadacanal, and the Solomon Islands. He was killed in the Sterling Islands (part of the Solomon Islands), piloting a barge during an air raid on January 12, 1944. 

By this time, his family lived on Harrison Street in Sherwood, Ohio.  The Bryan Press reported on June 30, 1948, that his body would be sent home for reinterment.  

Funeral services for S1c Blake Musselman were held in the Moats Funeral Home in Sherwood on Thursday, July 1, 1948, with Rev. E.E. Roberts, former pastor of the Sherwood Methodist Church officiating.

"The casketed remains of Seaman Musselman arrived in Hicksville Tuesday afternoon of this week from the Chicago Distribution Center of the American Graves Registration Center, and the body was brought to Moats Funeral Home, where friends may call." (The Chronicle, Sherwood, Ohio, Tues. June 29, 1948)

Mary Williams, Researcher