Clarence Arthur Peterson 1922-1945

PETERSON, SCHULTZ

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 12/29/2013 at 00:46:27

T-5 Clarence Peterson Said to Be Missing
Boarded Ship, Never Debarked
T-5 Clarence A. Peterson, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. G.A. Peterson of Estherville, was officially declared missing since Sept. 30, 1945 by the war department in a telegram received Friday night by his step-mother, Mrs. Bessie Peterson, 621 N. Seventh street.

The telegram stated that T-5 Peterson had boarded the U.S.S. Rockingham but had never debarked at Otaru and had been missing since Sept. 30 last year. Other details will follow, according to Edward F. Witsell, adjutant general of the army, sender of the wire.

Relatives of T-5 Peterson had received no word from him since September, 1945, and for several months have been working through the Red Cross to obtain information. Mrs. Peterson’s last word from him was a letter written Sept. 15, 1945.

T-5 Peterson was born in Estherville Nov. 27, 1922, and had lived here until he went into service in March, 1943.

He attended high school here and was a freshman at Drake university at Des Moines at the time of his induction. He went overseas in September, 1943, and was stationed on New Caledonia until June, 1945. At that time he was transferred to the Philippines and was scheduled to go to Japan at the time that he was reported missing.

He has one sister, Mary Louise. (Estherville Daily News, Estherville, IA, May 18, 1946/ Vindicator and Republican, Estherville, IA, May 23, 1946)

T-5 Clarence Peterson Now Declared Dead
Clarence A. Peterson, army technician 5th grade has been declared legally dead by the war department. He has been missing since Aug. 28, 1945, from aboard the USS Rockingham where he was last seen.

In a letter received from the war department by his sister, Mary Louise Peterson, of Des Moines it is stated that he embarked on the USS Rockingham on Sept. 27, 1945, from Manila, Philippine Islands for Otaru, a city on the west central coast of Hokkaido Island, Japan. Enroute the vessel anchored at Aomori harbor off the northern tip of Honshu island on the 28th, 29th, and 30th of September, when Peterson disappeared.

As numerous liberty parties went ashore during this period his absence was not noticed until Sept. 30. A board of officers convened Oct. 1, 1945, to investigate the circumstances of Peterson’s disappearance and ascertained that he was last seen aboard the ship about noon on Sept. 28. No specific information other than that was found.

Survivors include his sister, Mary Louise of Des Moines, his stepmother, Mrs. Bessie Peterson, and an uncle, Walter Schultz, both of Estherville, and other relatives.

He was born Nov. 27, 1922, the son of Mr. and Mrs. G.A. Peterson and was graduated from Estherville high school. He attended the local junior college and was a sophomore in Drake university when he was inducted into the army in March, 1943.

After being sent overseas in September of the same year, he was first stationed on New Caledonia until June, 1945, when he was transferred to the Philippines. (Estherville Daily News, Estherville, IA, November 12, 1946)