Hommell, John M. 1920-1944
HOMMELL, HOMMEL, HUMMEL, FEULING
Posted By: IAGenWeb volunteer
Date: 6/8/2009 at 20:09:11
Captain John M. Hommell
Elkader (Special) - Committal services for Capt. John M. Hommell, son of Dr. and Mrs. P.R.V. Hommel of Elkader, will be held at the Arlington national cemetery at Arlington, Va., at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 8. Doctor and Mrs. Hommel will leave Sunday, June 4, for Washington, D.C., to be present at the services.Captain John Hommel was born in Elkader, Ia., Feb. 27, 1920 and graduated from Elkader high school in 1937 and from the Elkader Junior college in 1939. The following year he attended the State University of Iowa and in 1941 he was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He graduated from West Poine [sic] in June, 1943, and received his commission as a second lieutenant. He was then assigned to overseas duty with the 15th A.A.F. and was one of the pilots making the first shuttle bombing trip to Russia when he was shot down July 18, 1944, while flying on a mission over Memmingen, Germany, after participation in 33 raids. Captain Hommel was awarded the Purple Heart, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters for his outstanding service. He was commissioned as a captain Aug. 7, 1944.
Captain Hommel is survived by a son, John Hommel, who was born July 27, 1944; his wife of Cresco; and his parents, Dr. P.R.V. Hommel of Elkader and a brother, William, of Elkader.
~Oelwein Daily Register, June 7, 1950
~Notes:
1) The surname was spelled both Hommell and Hommel in this obit; it has been transcribed just as it appears in the newspaper.
2) The Waterloo Daily Courier, July 25, 1943 printed the wedding announcement of the 'forthcoming marriage' of Edith Jean Feuling, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. J.C. Feuling, of Cresco, to Lt. John Hommel of Elkader, Ia. The marriage to take place 'in the near future' at Sebring, Fla.___________ ______________
Added by S. Ferrall, June 13, 2014:
Elkader, Ia. - Lieut. John Hommel, 24, of Elkader, pilot of a B-17 Foying Fortress, based in Italy, has been missing in action since July 18, according to a War Department message received Saturday by his wife. Mrs. Hommel received the message in Lenth Hospital, where she became the mother of a son on July 27.
Lieut. Hommel, son of Dr. and Mrs. P.R.V. Hummel (sic), of Elkader, was a pilot on the first United States bomber shuttle trip from Italy to Russia. He was only recently awarded the Air Medal by order of Maj. Gen. Nathan F. Twining, commanding officer of the Fifteenth American Air Force, for "meritorious achievement in aerial flight."
He graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in engineering, and graduated from West Point Military Academy, with high honors, in 1942.
Mrs. Hommel is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. J.C. Feuling, of Cresco, Ia.
~Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, Monday morning edition, August 7, 1944
(a photo of Lieut. Hommel was published with this news article - to view see his entry on the WWII Honor Roll on the Clayton co. IAGenWeb site)
Clayton Obituaries maintained by Sharyl Ferrall.
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