George Raymond Vedder Ill 1921-1943

ILL, VEDDER, HUNTSINGER, HIGGINS

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 3/30/2015 at 11:40:26

Son of George Vedder In Crew of Lost Ship
Destroyer Torpedoed And Sunk by Japanese
Seaman First Class George R. Ill, 22, son of George Vedder of Estherville, was a member of the crew of the destroyer Strong, torpedoed and sunk Sunday night while engaged in a bombardment of Japanese installations in Kula gulf.

The number of casualties to crew members has not been revealed but a dispatch said next of kin would be notified as soon as possible.

George Ill attended school here in 1929 and left from here to enlist in the navy a year ago. He was on a vessel in the Atlantic until last December when he saw service in the Pacific.

250-Man Crew
The 2,100 ton destroyer Strong, commissioned only last year, carried a normal complement of about 250 men. She was an exceptionally large vessel, being in the destroyer leader class. She was commanded by Commander Joseph Harold Wellings of East Boston, Mass. Whether he survived was not reported nor was there estimates given of the loss of life.

Presumably the vessel was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine boldly operating within the narrow and dangerous limits of the Kula gulf.

Official Communique
Concerning the Strong’s sinking the navy communique said:

“On the night of July 4-5, the United States destroyer Strong was torpedoed and sunk while engaged in the bombardment of Japanese positions on New Georgia Island. The next of kin of the casualties aboard the Strong will be notified as soon as possible.”

With the loss of the Strong following by about five days the torpedo sinking of the troop carrier McCawley in the Bendova Island area, the United States navy has invested a total of about 40 ships in the Solomon Island campaign which began last Aug. 7 and went into a new phase with the invasion of the Munda area June 30. (Estherville Daily News, Estherville, IA, July 6, 1943)

Sailor Is Lost In Action
Son of George Vedder Dies of Injuries Received on Destroyer Strong in Kula Gulf
Official word has been received in Estherville by George Vedder of the death of his son, George R. Vedder Ill, seaman first class in the U.S. navy. He died from injuries received while on active duty on the destroyer Strong in the Kula gulf.

The ship, commissioned last year, carried a complement of 250 men, was torpedoed and sunk on the night of July 4-5 while engaged in the bombardment of Japanese positions on New Georgia Island. It is thought the ship was torpedoed while operating within the narrow and dangerous limits of the gulf.

The official word was received from Hill City, Minn.

George Ill was born in Emmetsburg April 5, 1921. He lived in Estherville from 1926 to 1929. From here he went to Hill City. He enlisted in the navy a year ago in Estherville and received six weeks of boot training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station.

He was assigned to sea duty after completing his boot training. He was transferred last December from serving on the Atlantic to the Pacific fleet.

Surviving him are his father; two sisters, Mrs. Wayne Huntsinger and Mrs. Fay Higgins, Estherville; two half brothers, Frank and Verlyn Vedder, and a half sister, Mary Ann, all living in Estherville.

Mrs. Fay Higgins and Mrs. Wayne Huntsinger are in Hill City, Minn. attending memorial services for their brother, George Ill, who was killed in action in the Kula Gulf. (Vindicator and Republican, Estherville, IA, July 15, 1943)

George is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, HI