Second Lieut. Lawrence Keith Zeliadt (1944)
IKERD, ZELIADT
Posted By: Eileen Reed
Date: 11/8/2023 at 18:04:36
The Des Moines Tribune
Des Moines, Iowa
Monday, October 9, 1944
Page 7, Column 1Services for Second Lieut. Lawrence K. Zeliadt, 24, who was killed in a plane crash Oct. 3 at Minter field, Cal., will be at 2 p. m. Tuesday at Friends church, E. Thirteenth and Lyon streets. Burial will be in Highland Memory gardens.
Lieutenant Zeliadt, who joined the army air forces in January, 1942, had been serving at Arizona and California fields as an instructor in acrobatic and instrument flying.
Surviving are his widow, Betty; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Zeliadt, Norwalk, Ia.; four brothers, Aviation Cadet Carl G., Santa Ana, Cal.; Harold, Prole, la.; Raymond, Foster Field, Tex., and Francis, Norwalk; and a sister, Iris Mae Zeliadt, Norwalk.
_________________________The Winterset News
Winterset, Iowa
Thursday, October 19, 1944
Page 1, Column 5FORMER RESIDENT DIED IN ACCIDENT
Second Lieutenant Lawrence K. Zeliadt died in line of duty at Minter Field, Bakersfield, California, October 3, 1944, at the age of 24.
He was born at Earlham August 26, 1920, the son of Ivan and Vivian Zeliadt. He graduated from the Norwalk high school in 1939, and attended Iowa State College until entering the air service. Zeliadt was a member of the First Friends church in Des Moines.
On November 10, 1943, he was married to Bette Ikerd of Ames. Besides his wife and parents, he is survived by four brothers who are A/C Carl, Santa Cruz, California; Harold, Prole; A/C Raymond, Foster Field, Texas; Francis, Norwalk, and a sister, Iris Mae also Norwalk.
His accidental death occurred when two training ships, which were both flying “blind”, or instrument flying, collided in the air. Three other flyers lost their lives in the accident.
Lawrence enlisted in the Army Air Corps June 26, 1942, but was not called in the service until January 5, 1943. He received training in different airfields in California and at Phoenix, Arizona. He received his commission at Luke Field at Phoenix on November 3, 1943. He had one month of officers’ training at Randolph Field, San Antonio, Texas, and then returned to Minter Field near Bakersfield, California, as an instructor in aerobatics and instrument flying.
He was formerly in Winterset for a short time, when he was in business with his brother, Carl.
_________________________Coordinators' note: Middle name taken from his 1920 Madison County Birth Record.
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