Mason City's WWII Marines, 1942

BURKE, HEARITY, PAULEY, SIESSEGER, CROSS, MAHLSTADT, BUFFINGTON, MCFARLIN, LYNCH, GAGNON, SPUHLER, MAILLARD, FOSTER, CURTIN, RYE, JAMES, WHITNEY, SMITH, DAVIS

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 4/26/2012 at 20:58:23

Mason City "Leathernecks" Fight on World Battle Fronts

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Language contained in the following news article transcriptions are not considered to be politically correct by today's standards. The language remains as it was written in 1942, a time when America was at war in Europe and in the Pacific, and is a reflection of the time as it was lived and recorded in the newspapers of the time.

Globe Gazette
Mason City, Iowa
Friday, October 30, 1942, Page 28

Mason City "Leathernecks" Fight on World Battle Fronts

THEY TOOK PART IN MIDWAY, JAVA, OTHER BATTLES

Two Completing Officers Training Course at Quantico

Althought Mason City has no U.S. marine recruiting station, a number of North Iowa youths have become part of the fighting "leathernecks." They are lving up to their name as they carry their fighting ability to the world's battlefronts.

* * *
A Mason City marine, Pvt. William BURKE, took part in one of the marines' bravest stands in World war II, the battle of Midway, and lost his life in the action. Another Another, PFC Joe HEARITY, son of Peter HEARITY, 1610 Washington avenue northwest, is believed to have participated in the battle for Java in February.

Two Mason Cityans, John E. PAULEY and A. J. SIESSEGER, are completing an officers training course at the marine base at Quantico, Va., and will received commissions on graduation.

* * *
Other Mason City marines are Cpl. William C. CROSS, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. T. CROSS, 233 Sixth street southeast; Pvt. Ronald W. MAHLSTADT, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. MAHLSTADT, 1220 Massachusetts avenue southeast; Howard BUFFINGTON, son of Mr. and Mrs. Chet BUFFINGTON, 427 Twenty-third street southwest; Duane McFARLIN, son of Ray McFARLIN, 622 Monroe avenue northwest; William W. LYNCH, son of W. J. LYNCH, Winnebago Heights; Pvt. Charles H. GAGNON, son of John E. GAGNON, 206 Twenty-sixth street southwest, and Wilbur SPUHLER; Corp. Thomas RYE, son of Carl RYE; Pvt. Wallace MAILLARD, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank MILLARD, 2515 Jefferson avenue southwest, who is stationed at Pearl Harbor, and PFC John FOSTER, son of Mr. and Mrs. C. C. FOSTER, route 3, and Pvt. Charles Patrick CURTIN, son of Charles CURTIN, 426 Pierce avenue southwest.

Cerro Gordo county marines, though few in number, are active on the fighting fronts of the world. Corp. Thomas RYE, at last report, was serving somewhere in th Pacific, after being transferred from Iceland, where he was stationed for almost 10 months. Corp. William CROSS and Sgt. Howard BUFFINGTON, who were also stationed in Iceland, left San Diego Oct. 19 for an unknown destination. Pvt. Ronald MAHLSTADT is [a] radioman and aerial gunner on a dive bomber, stationed at Coleta, Cal.; PFC Joe HEARITY, also on duty somewhere in the Pacific, is believed to be one of the marines who escaped to Australia after the battle of Java. Sgt. Bynum C. JACOBSEN of Clear Lake is with a parachute battalion at Camp Elliot, Cal. PFC John FOSTER is believed to be stationed in the Solomons from hints dropped in letters written in the last of September.

Marine Corps Officers

Two Mason Cityans are receiving commissions this weekend as second lieutenants in the U.S. marine corps after completing a course in officers training at the Quantico, Va., marine school. They are John E. PAULEY (at far left), son of Mr. and Mrs. Ray E. PAULEY, 83 River Heights drive, and A. J. "Tony" SIESSEGER (at near left), son of Mrs. L. W. SIESSEGER, 1907 1/2 First street southeast. Both reported to the school in August.

Corp. Lloyd JAMES of the U.S. marine corps is believed to have been taken prisoner by the Japs at Wake island. He is the son of Paul JAMES of Thornton.

Melvin O. WHITNEY, fireman 1st class, was stationed on the U.S. cruiser Marblehead when it limped home 13,000 miles after being badly damaged in a Jap attack. Crew members were forced to bail by hand for days to keep the ship afloat.

Ensign Stephen SMITH, veteran navy flyer, was pilot of a torpedo plane riddled by 68 Jap bullets in the battle for Midway island. Mrs. SMITH is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Guy DAVIS of Mason City.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, April of 2012

Mason City's WWII Marines, 1942
 

Cerro Gordo Documents maintained by Lynn Diemer-Mathews.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen