Spec3 Albert Henry DROSTE 1922-1944

DROSTE, THOEMKE

Posted By: Andrew BROWN (email)
Date: 10/19/2010 at 09:53:08

Spec3 Albert Henry DROSTE
17JAN1922.Oelwein,IA-24OCT1944.Phillipines

Oelwein, IA – Mrs. Bertha Droste has received a telegram from the chief of naval personnel stating that her son, Albert Henry DROSTE, ships service laundryman third class in the USNR, was killed in action (24OCT1944) while in the service of his country in the Pacific theater of action.

He is survived by four brothers, Fred in the Army in England, Carl, member of the navy, stationed in the pacific, Robert and Richard, Oelwein, one sister, Betty, and his mother, Mrs. Bertha Droste, Oelwein, (Fayette Co IA). ..Oelwein, IA Daily Register 14NOV1944

(Notes) ..Albert joined the U. S. Naval Reserve in 1942 and saw service in the Atlantic and Pacific.

He was serving on the cruiser USS Birmingham during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines and died while on a rescue mission to assist the burning carrier USS Princeton which had been bombed by Japanese planes.

As the Birmingham came along side the Princeton at 15:23 hrs, overheated shells aboard the Princeton exploded blowing off the carrier’s stern and showering the Birmingham’s topsides with fragments killing 239 men and wounding 403. Albert was one of those killed.

..JAN1945: Awarded the Purple Heart Posthumously.

Son of Frederick & Bertha Thoemke Droste

Burial:
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
Manila
Manila City, Philippines