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.

Local Prisoner of War Camp Provides Workers

 

The Civilian Conservation Camp (on Second Street behind the current Mercy Hospital), shown here in 1938, became the home for mostly German POWs during the Second World War. (Edward Bronson photo)

"GERMAN PRISONERS WORK NEAR BRYAN

Pick Beans at R.T. Lilly Farm from Defiance Camp

German prisoners started work for the first time near Bryan today when the 35 husky veterans of the north Africa campaign began picking beans on the R. T. Lilly farm, guarded by two men from the U.S. Army.

These prisoners who are from the Defiance camp, have been contracted by the Airline Packing Co. of Edgerton, arrangements being made by F. I. Bell, county agent. They will pick beans on other farms which are raising beans for Airline, making about 80 cents a day.

The pay is two cents a pound for picking and about 160 pounds is a day's work, the prisoners receiving about a quarter of the amount paid. They are transported and have to be back in camp after 12 hours, and they take their own lunch. No one is expected to fraternize with them.

Any others who would like to employ German prisoners should contact Mr. Bell to learn the details of how they may be obtained. They must agree to hire at least ten prisoners, although it may be possible to divide these groups and work 5; and they have to furnish transportation. The prisoners may work at any kind of farm jobs, or in industries not directly connected with the war.

The prisoners here are veterans of the African Korps, most of them under 25 years of age, among the finest of the German Army, husky and well-muscled."

(The Bryan Democrat, Aug. 10, 1944, pg. 1)

Lieut. Frank Bodenhorn was the commanding officer of the Defiance German prisoners of war camp, and he noted that one military policeman is assigned to each five prisoners.

The U.S. chose to bring these men to the United States, especially those who were captured in Africa and Italy, as it was difficult there to find housing and food for the prisoners. An underlying thought, too, was that taking these men away would help  to weaken their armies. It was estimated by one source that Ohio had about 8,000 prisoners in 1943, and that number would increase.

 

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - PFC Richard Leroy Ankney

 

PFC Richard Leroy Ankney

Richard L. Ankney, born April 21, 1924, was the second son of Charles and Anna Rebecca (Wheeler) Ankney. He was one of seven children in the family who lived on Ayersville Avenue in 1940. His education ended in sixth grade at the Fourth Ward School. 

Just after he turned 18, he married Bernice Evalyn Groh on May 6, 1941. The young marriage was in trouble quickly. 

The Crescent-News reported on July 24, 1942:

"Charging her 18 year old husband, Richard L. Ankney of Defiance with gross neglect of duty and extreme cruelty, Berneice Ankney today filed a petition in common pleas court for divorce and permanent alimony. The petition recited that they were married May 6, 1941, and have no children. Shaw, Weaner and Clemens represent the plaintiff.

On July 10, 1943, he went to Toledo and enlisted into the Army. He gave his occupation as a welder on the enlistment paper. He trained at Camp Carson, Colorado and Camp Haan, California, before being sent to France.

In June, 1944, he was hospitalized for pyelonephritis (urinary tract, kidney infection), and was released back to duty.

"Our Men in Service.

The 399th Infantry Regiment of the 100th (Century) Division set some kind of record for the speed with which it said good-bye to the East River and hello to the Rhine. Some of the men in the regiment marched down Fifth Avenue in New York City to help inauguarate the 5th War Bond Drive, and they were in action on the  U.S 7th Army front in eastern France when they read about the results of the same drive.

Arriving in France on October 20, they spent several days assembling equipment, then for three days and nights rolled toward the front and the next morning, they were on one of the toughest sectors along the entire front. Five men from the Defiance area in this regiment are: Pfc James L. Hasselshwert, rt. 1, Pfc Richard L. Ankney, 513 Martin Street, Pfc Robert J. Rosebrock, 23 Jackson Ave., Defiance; Pfc William Brown, 408 S. Bryan St., Hicksville, and Pfc. Leonard A. Jesse, rt. 1 Ney."   Crescent-News, Dec. 18, 1944.

Richard was in the hospital one last time in December, 1944, injured in the line of duty, his thorax riddled with artillery shells. There he died on December 9, 1944, in Killem, Dept. du Nord, Nord- Pas-de Calais, France.

A notice of the death appeared in the Crescent-News on January 5, 1945 on page 1:

"BUDDY'S LETTER TELLS OF DEATH

Official Telegram Confirms Richard Ankney

Killed in France

Official notification by telegram of the death in action of Pfc. Richard L. Ankney, 20, in France on December 9, came to his wife here Thursday night, but she already had known of his death for 24 hours through a letter from a buddy who saw the victim fall.

The victim previously had been reported missing in a War Department telegram received here Dec. 21.

"When Richard got killed, I lost one of my best buddies," wrote Pvt. Winfred H. Edwards in the letter received by Mrs. Ankney Wednesday.

"It's a long story and hard for me to tell," said the soldier.

"I saw it, but I could not get to him in time. He was trying to say something, but he never did get to finish it. All I can say is that when we lost Richard, we lost one of the best men that we had."

Mrs. Ankney, 513 Martin Street, the former Berneice Groh, was married to Pfc. Ankney, May 6, 1941. They have no children.

The victim was the son of Mr and Mrs. Charles Ankney, 

1400 Ayersville Avenue. His father is now in the hospital here. His brother, Pvt. Donald E. Ankney is home on furlough from an Army hospital in Louisville, Ky., where he has been recovering from wounds received in action in Italy last March 14.

Other survivors are Mrs Mildred Hill and Violet Ankney, sisters, and William, Charles, and Garrison Ankney, brothers, all in Defiance.

Pfc Ankney entered service July 10, 1943, trained at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana; Camp Haan, California; Camp Carson, Colorado; and Fort Bragg, North Carolina before going overseas last October. He served with the Seventh Army. Formerly, he was employee at Haviland Stamping Company."

He missed the birth of his only child, born April 4, 1945, a daughter that Bernice named Rickie Lee. The announcement in the newspaper added "(Father Richard L. Ankney was killed in action in France, Dec. 9, 1944.)

Richard was transported home and buried in Riverside Cemetery

Dianne Kline, Researcher

A New Series Begins - Honoring World War II Soldiers

 

Starting tomorrow, the Defiance County Genealogical Society blog will honor the WW II soldiers listed on the Defiance County War Memorial - those soldiers who were killed in action, missing in action and executed, and prisoners of war, executed.

These men sacrificed their lives for the citizens of the United States of America, and we hope to continue their memory. Their stories will be featured on the blog throughout 2025, and we will share them on our Facebook page, doing our best to research each soldier as best we can to learn his story and honor his sacrifice.

If you have knowledge of one of these men and would like to share photos or information, we would welcome your help. Please send to 

defiancegenealogy2002@yahoo.com

 

From the Sherwood Chronicle Dec. 29, 1949

"Uncle Jake Saylor was in the other day to tell us the story of Sherwood's first street lighting system. What reminded him of it was a Christmas card from a relative, which carried the picture of an old-fashioned street light - exactly like the ones here 60 - 65 years ago.

Those lights, Uncle Jake says, sat on steel poles on both sides of what is still Harrison street (in the business district), and they burned kerosene. A chap lit them each evening and turned them off each morning, a job which Mr. Saylor held for about a month.

Later, the town had its own electric light plant, but some years after its inception, it was sold to a private company, and finally the Ohio Power Co. took the village under its spacious wing.

Municipal light plants were never too successful in small towns in this section, although there have been some exceptions, notably Deshler, over in Henry County. But a good many of them gave up the ghost in the years immediately before and after the first World War, and since then, the big power companies have held sway.

And by the way of closing 1949 with a compliment, we would say that Ohio Power takes mightly good care of Sherwood."

Survivor of the Anthony Wayne Explosion, 1850

A shocking incident happened in 1850 involving one man who was on the Anthony Wayne when it sunk. The big question for more than a year was - did Robert Shean survive the sinking or not?  Most friends and family thought him dead.

"THE DEAD ALIVE

Robert Shean, a resident of Middletown in this county, was on board the Anthony Waynne, at the time she blew up on Lake Erie last April. After that dreadful catastrophe, a body was found floating on the Lake, which answered his description and no doubts were entertained but that he had lost his life by the explosion, and that the body which had been found was his.

The body was taken and buried in one of the churchyards of Sandusky City. A large circle of friends, to who he was endeared during life, and who sorely lamented his untimely and dreadful death, raised a subscription among themselves, and erected over his supposed grave a suitable monument to his commemoration.

Judge of their surprise when the actual Robert Shean made his appearance in their midst, a living, moving being, in good health, but covered with scars.  Judge of the welcome which he received when they were really convinced that it was indeed him.  One actually have risen from the dead, could not have received a more heartfelt, joyous welcome.  Others were promptly dispatched to Sandusky City to have the monument removed from the supposed grave.

It appears that when the Anthony Wayne blew up, he was severely scalded, but clinging to a piece of the wreck, he floated up on the Lake until he was taken up by a vessel and carried to Detroit.  He laid under medical treatment at Detroit for a long time, but having at length recovered, he repaired to Sandusky City.

In examining the grave yards, with a view of ascertaining who on board the Anthony Wayne had perished, he read the inscription on the monument which his friends had erected to his memory. His surprise on reading it was a great as theirs was to see him return.  He immediately returned to his friends, for the purpose of assuring them that he was still among the living.  'Truth is stranger than fiction.'"

Rossville Democrat

Reprinted in the Zanesville Courier, November 16, 1850, p. 2,  as well as the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette.

Efforts to find out what happened to Robert Shean have been unsuccessful. His last name could be spelled so many different ways, and the times were early in Ohio, so nothing discovered has been conclusive.