NOTE: Several news items are included here that precede Harold Aucker's induction into the service of his country. Many young men got their start in the military in this same manner during the WWII years.
HELD ON CHARGE OF
DRIVING CAR WITHOUT RIGHT
Harold Aucker, 20, Bound to Grand Jury;
Bond Fixed at $1,000
Harold Aucker, 20, who lives at 1418 Adams avenue northwest, was bound to the grand jury Monday by Police Judge Morris Laird on a charge of operating a motor vehicle without the consent of the owner.
Aucker was arrested by members of the sheriff’s office Saturday. He was alleged to have driving the car of John Senneff, Sr. at Clear Lake on July 4 and left it in Mason City. Aucker’s bond was fixed at $1,000.
Source: The Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Monday, July 07, 1941, Page 8
AUCKER GIVEN JAIL SENTENCE
Admitted Taking Car of Peggy Senneff Percival
Without Her Consent
Harold Aucker was sentenced in district court here Friday to serve a six months term in the county jail when he pleaded guilty to operating a motor vehicle without the consent of the owner. Judge Tom Boynton ruled that Aucker is to be given credit for the time served since his arrest on July 7.
Aucker admitted taking a car belonging to Mrs. Peggy Senneff Percival, Des Moines, from a parking place near the Outing club at Clear Lake on the early morning of July 4, driving it to Mason City and back to Clear Lake when he left it near Dodge’s Point.
He was arrested by a deputy sheriff and bound over to the grand jury from the local police court.
Source: The Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Saturday, August 09, 1941, Page 6
FOUR CAUGHT IN THEFTS OF
CARS IN MASON CITY
Aucker and Bendickson Held on Charges
After Arrest on Highway 18
Harold Leroy Aucker, 1418 Adams avenue northwest, and Gaylord Melvin Bendickson, 409 ½ Fourth street southwest, are being held on charges of larceny of a motor vehicle. Their hearings were continued Wednesday morning by Police Judge Morris Laird.
Aucker and Bendickson were arrested by Captain Leo Risacher and Officer Ray Follett of the Mason City police department about 2 o’clock Wednesday morning as the two men were walking towards Mason City on Highway No. 18.
The officers had been searching for the men since hearing of an accident about 5 miles west of Mason City. Previous to this the officers had received a report that the car owned by Dr. Draper Long, 1108 West State street, had been stolen about 11:45 o’clock Tuesday night.
The car, which had been tipped over several times on the highway, and so reported to the police, had been righted again and driven off a side road at the six mile limit and driven into a ditch, according to the officers.
Source: The Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Wednesday, November 12, 1941, Page 16
Charges Against 2 Dismissed
As They Join Army
Harold Leroy Aucker, 1419 Adams avenue northwest, and Gaylord Melvin Bendickson, 409 ½ Fourth street southwest, have volunteered for the U. S. army and indictments charging them with larceny of a motor vehicle have been dismissed, County Attorney M. L. Mason revealed Thursday.
Both are 20 years old and registered last week, volunteering at the same time. They are scheduled for induction at Des Moines immediately, the county attorney said.
The two were arrested on Nov. 12, shortly after they had taken and wrecked a car belonging to Dr. Draper Long, Mason City. They were arrested by local police and indicted by the January grand jury panel.
Source: The Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Thursday, February 26, 1942, Page 16
Aucker Killed In Action Feb. 10
Sergeant Stationed in England Since November
Sgt. Harold Aucker, son of Mrs. L. A. Aucker, 1418 Adams N.W., was killed in action Feb. 10 in England, according to word received Monday by his mother. He had been stationed in England since last November. Sgt. Aucker’s father is in defense work in California and a sister, Helen L. Aucker, is in Red Cross work at Selma, Ala. Another sister, Ruth E. Aucker, is a senior at the University of Iowa.
Source: The Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Tuesday, February 22, 1944, Page 11
MEMORIAL SERVICE for SGT.
HAROLD AUCKER HERE SUNDAY
Patriotic Groups to Participate at Methodist Church
Memorial services for Sgt. Harold L. Aucker, son of Mr. and Mrs. L. A. Aucker, 1418 Adams N. W., killed in action in England Feb. 10, will be held at the First Methodist church Sunday afternoon at 3 o’clock with Doctor Marvin B. Kober, pastor, in charge, and patriotic organizations participating.
Sgt. Aucker was born Oct. 27, 1920, in Mason City, and he attended the high school here. He was graduated from the Lincoln Aeronautical Institute at Lincoln, Neb., in 1940. As a civilian he worked as an aircraft sheet metal worker at Baltimore, Md.
Sgt. Aucker enlisted in the army air corps on March 2, 1942, and had been in England since last November. He was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously on March 3. He received his promotion to sergeant while stationed at Las Vegas, Tex. [?]
Besides his parents, Sgt. Aucker is survived by 2 sisters, Helen Aucker, in Red Cross work at Selma, Ala., and Ruth Aucker, a senior at the University of Iowa. The father is in defense work in California.
Source: The Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Thursday, March 23, 1944, Page 12 (photo included)
HAROLD AUCKER MEMORIAL HELD
Life Has Permanent Value, Says Pastor
“Before us are 2 flags, one bearing a gold star which is the symbol of the life which Sgt. Harold L. Aucker gave; the other bears 4 bars, red bars on a field of white, and these are symbols of the 4 freedoms for which he fought.”
Thus spoke Doctor Marvin B. Kober, pastor of the First Methodist church, Sunday afternoon at memorial services for Sgt. Aucker, son of Mr. and Mrs. L. A. Aucker, 1418 Adams N. W., who was killed in action in England on Feb. 10. The flags referred to were the Gold Star Mother’s flag and the Four Freedoms flag displayed along with those of other patriotic organizations at the service.
“It is for us, the living. . . to be dedicated here today to the unfinished work which they. . . have thus far so nobly advanced,” said Doctor Kober. “Will we so live that the children of those who die, or who are going through this dark night of the world’s woe, will not have to learn over again in a 3rd World war, the lessons which we fail to get?
“. . . We approach the highest festival of the Christian year at Easter time. . . Easter us a recurring principle, a drama of what God is constantly doing, bringing triumph out of tragedy. . .That drama, coupled with our own experiences, re-enforces our conviction that life has permanent value and that the Eternal presence is constantly with men,” concluded Doctor Kober.
Mrs. Paul Hoffman sang “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go” and “Be Still My Soul” with Mrs. Earl Ehlers at the organ. Patriotic organizations participating included the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Rainbow Veterans, together with their auxiliaries, and also the United Service Women, Navy Mothers and Gold Star Mothers.
Source: The Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Monday, March 27, 1944, Page 8
Harold Leroy Aucker died Feb. 10, 1944 and is buried in Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England.
Sgt. Aucker served with the U.S. Army Air Corps 712th Bomb Squadron, 448th Bomb Group, Heavy. He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Source: ancestry.com; abmc.gov
