PFC Donald Rex FORD

FORD, ZIMMER, NAUMAN

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 3/29/2011 at 06:08:04

Obituary ~ PFC Donald Rex Ford

The Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
November 20, 1943

KILLED IN ACTION

Mr. and Mrs. O. E. FORD, R.F.D. No. 1, Clear Lake, received word Thursday from the war department that their son, PFC. Donald R. FORD, of the U.S. marines, had been killed in action in the Pacific war area. The message stated that further information would arrive.

Besides his parents, Private FORD is survived by a sister, Mrs. William [Cleone] ZIMMER, Le Mars, 3 nieces and a nephew.

The nephew, born Thanksgiving day, was named for his uncle who had expressed the hope that a son would be born to the family. His last letter home was written Nov. 16 on board ship.

Cut courtesy of Clear Lake Reporter.

NOTE: Donald Rex FORD was born near Forest City, Iowa on April 11, 1915, the son of Orville Elmer and Ada Pearl (NAUMAN) FORD. PVT FORD was interred at Memorial Park Cemetery, Mason City.

~ ~ ~ ~

PFC Donald Rex FORD was killed on the first day of the Battle of Tarawa, fought in near the Gilbert Island from November 20 - 24, 1943. It is believed that PVT. FORD was in the first landing on Betio Islet on the 20th. This Battle was the first time the U.S. faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing. Well-supplied and well-prepared, the 4,500 Japanese fought almost to the last man which exacted a heavy toll on the Marines. The importance of capturing Tarawa was in a strategic location at the gateway of the U.S. drive through the central Pacific toward the Philippines. The Japanese were dug into a labyrinth of pillboxes and bunkers which were interconnected with tunnels and defended by wire and mines. The 2nd Division of the U.S. Marine Corps were assigned the task of dislodging this force, resulting in a battle that produced one of the fiercest and bloodiest in Marine Corps history.

Transcriptions by Sharon R. Becker, March of 2011

Cerro Gordo Obituaries maintained by Lynn Diemer-Mathews.
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