WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - Tech Sgt John Robert Bassler

Tech Sgt John Robert Bassler

 

Born in Richland County, Ohio, on April 26, 1923, John Bassler was the son of Mary Ozella (Stuff) and Albert Tobias Bassler. Before 1930, the couple divorced, and John's father remarried and settled in Hicksville, while his mother and her children went back to her home in Richland County.

In the 1940 census, John, who was 16, had a job with his maternal uncle, working as a farm hand. On June 18, 1941, John filled out his draft registration card in Richland County, noting he was 5'9" tall and 130 pounds with blue eyes, brown hair and a ruddy complexion.  

In 1941, he was working at the Defiance Wrecking Company, employed by Ray Leever at the wrecking yard south of Defiance. Then he went back to Mansfield and enlisted there.

In July 1941, he was sent on to training:

"GOES TO MEDICAL CORP

John R. Bassler, route 8, has been sent from Fort Hayes, Columbus to the Medical Corps Replacement Training Center at Camp Lee, Va."

The Crescent-News, July 10, 1941

He was sent overseas to England with the 112th Division, 28th Infantry. On July 22, 1944, the 28th Infantry landed in Normandy, and then they moved into Germany. Sgt. Bassler died in the invasion of Germany at Kries-Duren, Nordrhein, Westfalen, on September 20, 1944 at the age of 21.

The Sandusky Register reported on October 13, 1944:

"Mrs. Edsell Runyan of White Av. received a telegram from the War Department stating that her son, T-Sgt, John Bassler, 21, had been killed in action in Germany.

Enlisting at the age of 17, Sgt. Bassler left from the Mansfield area for training before going overseas. He had taken part in many French actions. As head of his company, he recently transferred to the German theater of the war."

(

His mother had a third marriage - Adolph Bassler, Edsel Runyan, Raymond Brotherson.)

Back in Mansfield, the News Journal also reported on October 13, 1944:

"ONE ASHLAND YOUTH KILLED, TWO MISSING.

In Service Four Years, Sgt. John Bassler Dies in German Battle.

Ashland - One Ashland County serviceman is reported killed in action and two others are missing; relatives here have been notified.

Killed in Germany is Tech. Sgt John Bassler, 21, whose mother, Mrs. Edsell Runyan, has received a telegram informing her of the death of her son. Sgt. Bassler enlisted when he was 17 and took part in the French invasion before being sent into Germany..."

Tech Sgt. Bassler received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his service. He was buried at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial, Henri-Chapelle, Arrondissement de Verviers, Liage, Belgium.

Dianne Kline, Researcher

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - Pvt. Robert Amory Dunseth

Private Robert Amory Dunseth

 

Sylvester Amory and Minnie Marguerites (Yates) Dunseth welcomed their son, Robert, into the world in Mitchell, Davison County, South Dakota, on July 26, 1926. Robert was their youngest child, following Sylvia Lorena (1916), Roy Oliver (1917), Kenneth C. (1918), Russell Earl (1921) and Lucille Doris (1922). The family were in South Dakota at least until 1935, then they appeared in Indiana, and by the 1940 census, they had landed in Washington Township, Defiance County, Ohio.

The Bryan Democrat of June 26, 1944, announced his marriage: 

'FRIEMARK - DUNSETH

Miss Thelma Friemark, daughter of Mr and Mrs. Harry Friemark of Toledo, and Robert A. Dunseth of Ney, were married on Saturday, June 17. A reception was held for the newly married couple at eight o'clock in the Rodotto Hall at Erie, Michigan followed by a dance.

Married only a few months, Robert enlisted or was drafted into the Army on July 25, 1944, and became a member of Company B, 182nd Regiment, American Division.  He described himself as 6'2" and 182 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Only 18, he was sent to the Philippines where he was killed in action on April 29, 1945, in Negros Occidental Province, Western Visayas, Philippines. The U.S. forces had teamed up with the Filipino guerrillas against the Japanese who had over 30,000 troops on the island. General McArthur's goal was to get control of several port cities, Cebu City being one of them. This was very mountainous territory, and the Japanese forces had set booby traps, and used night raids against the Allies. This was the situation Robert was in when he was killed.

His body was finally returned home in 1949. The Crescent-News reported on April 25, 1949, that he had arrived home and a funeral would be held.

In another article, his pall bearers were named as Leonard and Robert Jesse, Robert and Ned Mack, Howard Zipfel and Richard Smith

The Bryan Democrat honored the Dunseth family on June 25, 1945, with a large article on the front page, sharing their sacrifices in the war. Four sons and two sons-in-law were all serving:

Staff Sgt Roy O. Dunseth, 28, in the Philippines'

Corporal Kenneth C. Dunseth, 27, with the Air Corp in the Philippines

Corporal Russell E. Dunseth, 24, in China with the Air Corps

Private Robert A. Dunseth, 18, an infantryman who was killed in action in Cebu, Philippines, April                 18, 1945

Two sons-in-law:

Sgt. 1st Class Torrance T. Barrow, 35, in England and

Corporal Russell C. Lilly, 28, in France.

Robert's son, Robert Lee Dunseth, was one month old when his father met his fate in battle.

Robert's three brothers all survived the war.

A sidenote:

Robert played basketball at Ney High School and in a championship game with Farmer High School, these were the teams. 

Crescent-News, March 3, 1941

Robert Carpenter, Researcher

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - Tech. Sgt. Morris Junior Gecowets

Technical Sergeant Morris Junior Gecowets

Morris Junior Gecowets was a Mark Center boy, born March 12, 1918, to Henry and Audrey (Stuckman) Gecowets. A 1939 graduate of Mark Center High School, he went on to Defiance College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts.  On August 28, 1940, his  number #2418 was called in the draft drawing.

 

He entered the U.S. Army on November 13, 1941, training at Scott Field, Illinois; Harlington, Texas and in Utah. He was training to be a gunner in the bombers that would raid Europe in the war. Off he went to the European Theater in August 1942.

In April 1943, his parents learned that Morris was reported as Missing in Action after a raid over Europe near Bremen, Germany.

On the front page of the Crescent-News on April 24, 1943:

"MORRIS GECOWETS MISSING IN ACTION

Mark Center, April 24 - Morris J. Gecowets, 25, a bomber gunner, has been missing in action in the European area since April 17, according to word received today by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Gecowets, from the war department.

Technical Sergeant Gecowets had been in service since Nov. 13, 1941, and had been overseas since last August. He is believed to have been located in England.

Recently he was awarded an air medal for service in action.

He was born March 12, 1918, was graduated from Mark Center high school and in 1939 from Defiance College with a bachelor of arts degree.

Max Gecowets, star basketball player at Ohio State University, who is now an air cadet stationed at Memphis State College, Memphis, Tenn. and Lee Gecowets, at home, are brothers."

www.americanairmuseum.com   Morris was part of this crew as the waist gunner.

The museum gave this description of the incident where Morris was wounded, and eventually died of his wounds:

"On 17 April, 1943, was the leading aircraft of the 36th low squadron on a mission to Bremen (Germany) in a B-17 41-24488 'Banshee II"  Fighters attacked the plane. Left with one engine, they headed back toward land. Another fighter raked the plane and killed five crewmen in the back of the plane. The remainder of the crew bailed out in the Frisian Islands and were captured to become Prisoners of War."

The plane crashed into a dyke (ditch) near Greetsiel, Germany, after enemy fire took out three engines.

On June 3, 1943, Morris Gecowets was officially declared dead. 

The Crescent-News reported his fate:

"SGT GECOWETS LISTED AS DEAD.  RED CROSS CONFIRMS LOSS OF MARK CENTER MAN IN BOMBER.

Mark Center, June 3 - Death of Technical Sergeant Morris J. Gecowets, 25, son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Gecowets of Mark Center, in the European area of April 17, was announced today in a telegram received by the parents from the adjutant general's office in Washington.

The telegram stated that a report received from the German government, through the International Red Cross had confirmed death of Sergeant Gecowets, who previously had been listed as missing in action since April.

No details of how the Mark Center soldier met his death were contained in the telegram, which said a letter would follow. He was a bomber gunner and had been in overseas service since August, 1942.... He had received the air service medal for service in action...."  

Morris also received the Purple Heart posthumously.

Morris was brought home and buried in the Six Corners Cemetery, Hicksville Township, Defiance County.

Mary Williams, Researcher

World War II - Rationing - Making a Sacrifice

 The following article appeared in the Defiance Crescent-News on July 3, 1943, as a defense for rationing. Apparently, some complaining, whining, selfishness and greed erupted once rationing was put into place in 1941, and this author, Robert W. Babson, had heard enough. The writing, in part:

"...Human nature being what it is, almost everyone's first thought was for himself. War, however, makes a person take for granted what in normal times, he could not even imagine, and today points, stamps, and price ceilings seem almost natural. But complaints and misunderstandings are still evident. I wish to defend and explain the need for rationing and price-fixing.

WAR COMES FIRST.  We can never lose sight of the fact that we are engaged in a war. Our first concern is to win. Keeping manpower at peak efficiency is necessary. Our fighting men must have first choice of all necessities. The government sees that our soldiers get the best of everything. What is left goes to the civilian population. There is enough, but its fair distribution cannot be left to chance.

Civilian manpower must back up fighting manpower. Therefore, the war workers on the home front, and those with less important jobs, must have their share of vital commodities. If this division were left to the individual, there would be too many selfish and thoughtless people who would first see that they got everything they could possibly need. Consequently, a plan to divide all scarce items on the basis of fairness and need has been devised.

THIS IS RATIONING."

Rationing required some planning and sacrifices for every household. My parents both worked for the war effort in the Willys-Jeeps factory in Toledo, driving from Henry County. Ride-sharing was demanded, and single travelers were given so long to arrange this, or they might be shorted on gas. Ride-share gave one a supplement of gas.

It was supply and demand with the rationing of the necessities of life. On November 21, 1942, coffee rations were closed for one week, according to the Crescent-News. But the next week, you could trade in your coffee ration for a sugar ration. It was an ever-changing scenario week by week. Extra rules came and went; for example, most of the time, sugar was only to be used for home food processing, not for dumping on cereal..

It didn't pay to try to cheat the Ration Board. If, for example, a soldier received a sugar ration book and then deployed, the family was to turn in his book. It was illegal not to do that, and the Ration Board kept a close watch.

Defiance Crescent-News, April 23, 1942: the rationing of sugar began...

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - Sgt. Lloyd George Amaden

SGT. LLOYD GEORGE AMADEN

Born in Milford Township on March 9, 1922, Lloyd George Amaden was named after his father, Lloyd Augustus Amaden, Sr. (1879-1922). Lloyd would grow up without his father.

In the 1930 census, his mother, Mary May Hootman Amaden, was head of the household with eight children, ranging from age 26 to 8 (Lloyd). At that time, they were living on East Smith Street in Hicksville. 

 Lloyd attended Hicksville High School where he graduated in 1940. He played football and basketball three years, and baseball and softball, for one year each.

After graduation, Lloyd joined the National Guard in October, 1940, which had been federalized for the war. He was sent to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and then to Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania.

He was in the Army, 148th Infantry, 37th Division, Company A, First Battalion. His first assignment would be the Bourgainville invasion in the Solomon Islands.

His destination would first be Fiji in June, 1942, Guadacanal in April, 1943, and Rendova, New Georgia in July 1943.

It was the New Georgia Campaign, (Operation Toenail) when the U.S. challenged the Japanese, in the Battle of Munda. United States troops landed on the west coast of Rendova Island with the intent of capturing the Japanese airfield there. "The inexperienced U.S. troops, hungry and tired, began to lose their fire, discipline and forward momentum. There were also a high number of severe cases of combat stress reaction (now PTSD) among U.S. troops at this time." (Historian, Samuel E. Morison). It was a chaotic massacre with exhausted soldiers, and it was soon apparent that fresh reinforcements were needed. 

Rendova sat across a watery division from the Japanese airfield. These islands were all important stepping stones for our troops to reach Japan, itself. Sgt. Amaden was one of the reinforcements sent to Munda airfield, but he might not have made it off the ship. He was shot while disembarking on July 21, 1943.

 In the Crescent-News, August 25, 1943, on page 1:

"Hicksville, August 25 - Hicksville's first native son casualty in World War II was recorded Tuesday when the war department announced the death of Sgt. Lloyd George Amaden, 21, son of Mrs. Mae Amaden, of Hicksville.

Sergeant Amaden was killed in action July 21 while landing at Munda on New Georgia Island. He had been in service three years, entering the Army shortly after graduation from Hicksville high school in 1940. He went overseas in May 1942, and served in the Fiji Islands and Guadacanal.

He leaves his mother, five brothers, Mark, Edwin, John, Walter, and Lee, all of Hicksville; and four sisters, Mrs. Audrey McCullough and Mrs. Valona Myers, both of HIcksville, Mrs. Pauline Nills, Fort Wayne, and Mrs. Mary Vance, New Haven, Indiana.

Public memorial services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Church of Christ with the pastor, Rev. William A. Cooper, officiating."

The Crescent-News, August 30, 1943, page 10:

"Public memorial services were held at 2 p.m. at the Church of Christ for Sgt. Lloyd Amaden, Hicksville soldier killed at Munda in the south Pacific area July 21 while the troops were landing at that port. For the memorial service Rev. Walter H. Reitz of the Methodist church offered the prayer and Commander Wellington H. Campbell of the American Legion stated the purpose of the Memorial. Rev. William J. Cooper, pastor of the church, based his sermon on Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. In closing, Rev Mr. Cooper sang, 'Some Time We Will Understand.'"

Sgt. Lloyd Amaden received the Purple Heart, posthumously awarded, and the Asian-Pacific Ribbon with 3 stars.

"MRS. AMADEN GIVEN SON'S PURPLE HEART.

Hicksville, Sept. 30 - Mrs. Mae Amaden has received from the war department a certificate award of the Purple Heart for her son, Sgt. Lloyd G. Amaden, for military merit and wounds received in action resulting in his death, July 21, 1943."

The Crescent-News, September 30, 1943, p. 7

                                              Buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Hicksville, Ohio

Dianne Kline, Researcher

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - Shipfitter First Class John Laird Fahy

 

Shipfitter, First Class John Laird Fahy

It was October 26, 1942 that

John Laird Fahy, son of Iva Pearl Fahy, was reported missing after the destroyer Meredith was sunk in the Solomon Islands on October 15. Fahy was serving as a shipfitter. 

After spending time in San Francisco and Hawaii, John had been assigned to the Meredith on his birthday, April 24. At the time of this tragedy, he was an experienced seaman, having been in the Navy for eight years, enlisting in October, 1935. 

Defiance Crescent -News, December 1, 1942

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency gave this report on the incident:

On October 15, 1942, a U.S. convoy of six ships was towing barges loaded with urgently needed supplies toward Guadalcanal. The American forces on that island were in dire need of resupply.  When the convoy was spotted by enemy aircraft, all but two ships withdrew from the area.

The two ships which pressed on were the U.S.S. Meredith, a destroyer, and the U.S.S. Vireo, a lightly armed towing vessel.  Upon receiving word that the Japanese surface warships were operating in the area, both ships were forced to turn back from their missions.

U.S.S. Meredith, 1942

Because of its age and slow speed, the Vireo was abandoned and the crew taken aboard the Meredith.

Within minutes, the Meredith was attacked by a large force of enemy aircraft. The destroyer sustained multiple bomb and torpedo hits and quickly sank. The majority of the crews of both ships was killed in the incident."

John Fahy, born April 24, 1913, in Defiance, Ohio was a resident of Delaware Township. His parents, Carl, who died in 1934, and Iva Pearl (Slough) Fahy, also had three daughters- Mrs. Pearl Speiser, Darlene Fahy and Mary Agnes Fahy, and two sons - Robert and Lt. James Fahy, who also served in WW II.

Although the body was not recovered, the family placed a memorial stone in the Sherwood Cemetery. Shipfitter First Class Fahy is also memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Sherwood Cemetery, Sherwood, Ohio

Mary Williams, Researcher

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - Seaman First Class Maurice Verdon Spangler

 

Seaman First Class 

Maurice Verdon Spangler

Pearl Harbor - the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941 - and one of Defiance's own met death there. Navy Seaman 1st Class Maurice V. Spangler, 20, went down with the U.S.S. battleship, Oklahoma, that day when Japanese aircraft hit it with multiple torpedoes, causing it to capsize quickly, resulting in the deaths of 429 crewmen.

The son of Jay Clement and Nettie Ruth (Gier) Spangler, Maurice enlisted in the Navy in September 1940. One brother, Estel or "Bud," also enlisted and they were assigned to the same ship, but at the time of the bombing, Bud had taken a position as a mechanic and he would not be on the ship. He was ashore waiting to be flown to San Diego for his new job. They also had another brother, Robert.

Navy photo of the Oklahoma sinking

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently buried in the Llalawa and Nu'uana Cemeteries in Honolulu. In the meantime, the newspapers reported Maurice just as missing.

"In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of the U.S. causalities from the two mentioned cemeteries and transferred them to Central Identification. The laboratory staff could only confirm the identifications of 35 men from the U.S. Oklahoma at that time." Maurice was listed as unrecoverable.

Crescent-News, May 18, 1942

Between June and December 2015, unidentified bodies from the U.S.S. Oklahoma were exhumed as they had been placed in Punchbowl Cemetery, Hawaii.  

By March 27, 2020, forensics had improved greatly, and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that Navy Seaman 1st Class Maurice V. Spangler, 20, of Defiance, Ohio, was accounted for using DNA.

Maurice was finally returned to his family and on September 12, 2021, almost 80 years later, Maurice was laid to rest in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, otherwise known as Punchbowl Cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii, with full military honors.

Even though recovered, his name is permanently inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at that cemetery with a rosette beside the name to indicate that he has been found.

Maurice was awarded the Purple Heart, a Combat Action Ribbon, an American Defense Service Medal with a Fleet Clasp, an Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one star, and a World War II Victory Medal.

Robert Carpenter, Researcher

A little extra...

This article appeared in the January 23, 2023, Defiance Crescent-News online:

"DEFIANCE SAILOR TO BE BURIED AFTER MORE THAN 80 YEARS

A Defiance man will be buried January 4 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.

According to a press release from the Navy Office of Community Outreach, Millington, Tenn., Seaman 1st Class Maurice Verdon Spangler will be honored with a burial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific- also called the 'Punchbowl.' The Punchbowl is in Pearl Harbor, the site of the early morning Japanese attack on December 7, 1941 during World War II.

Spangler's nephew, Jerry Spangler of Longmont, Colo., told the Crescent-News that his uncle was in the Navy by the time he was born. 

'I didn't get to know Maurice because he was away on duty when I was born,' he said. 'I have a letter where he says...who is this little guy, Jerry, you keep talking about? How is he?'

According to Jerry Spangler, his uncle had come to live with his family in Fort Wayne for a time before he joined the military.  'Maurice grew up in Defiance, and I think his name is on the memorial at the courthouse,' said Spangler. 'I don't know much about his time there because my parents didn't talk much about that, but I do have a lot of his letters that he wrote while in the Navy... He was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, just a fun-loving guy.'

Born and raised in Defiance, Spangler enlisted in Indianapolis, Indiana on September 4, 1940. As soon as he went through basic training, Spangler was sent to the Oklahoma in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

'One of the letters I have indicated that he had been assigned to the Oklahoma,' added Jerry Spangler. 'He was excited because he was there with his brother, Estel, who we called Bud. Coincidentally, Bud did not die in the attack because he was on shore at the time. Maurice was on the ship when the attack happened.'

The Oklahoma was authorized along with the Nevada in 1911, and the keel was laid for the Oklahoma in 1912. The two battleships, according to Naval information, were the first to use oil instead of coal.  On May 2, 1916, with Capt. Roger Welles at the helm, the USS Oklahoma was commissioned at Philadelphia, Pa. There that day was the then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who would later in 1941, ask Congress to declare war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor."

On December 6, it reached Pearl Harbor and was to be based there.  

Punchbowl or the National Memorial Cemetery, Honolulu, Hawaii.

The reports do cloud the burial date a bit, but the important news is that there is closure to Maurice Spangler's story.