37 Students of J. C. Now in Service
According to Dean S. Rugland, 37 junior college students of the 153 enrolled last September have enrolled in some phase of the war service during the school year. [Among] the 25 serving in the army are . . . and Clair Edel.
Source: The Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Friday, June 04, 1943, Page 5
Your Neighbors in the
KAHKI AND BLUE
What They Are Doing
WHEREABOUTS
Clair Edel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Edel, Route 3, Mason City, has been transferred from Garner Field, Tex., to Goodfellow Field, Tex., for basic training in the army air corps.
Source: The Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Tuesday, August 17, 1943, Page 10
COMMISSIONED LIEUTENANTS
AT TEXAS PILOT SCHOOLS
Among a large number of Iowa aviation cadets graduated from Texas flying fields Dec. 5 [was] Clair B. Edel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Edel, route 3 as a fighter pilot.
Source: The Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Wednesday, December 08, 1943, Page 12
Praised by Under Secretary of War
Praised by Under Secretary of War, Robert P. Patterson as “a fine body of men,” another large class of potential combat pilots has departed from the San Antonio aviation cadet center to take advanced training at primary flying fields. Members of the class included 227 from Iowa, six of whom are from Mason City. They are Donald Leroy Ferrier, son of A. C. Ferrier, Route 4; Clair B. Edel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Edel, Route 3; Dorance S. Grange, 216 Vermont avenue southeast; Donald K. Kuhn, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Kuhn, 544 Tenth street northeast; William O. McClellan, 4 Hazel Court, and Bennie J. Nozicka, 830 Fifteenth street southeast.
Source: The Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Wednesday, May 26, 1943, Page 6
ASSIGNED TO “THUNDERBOLT”
Clair B. Edel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Edel, route 3, has been assigned to a P-47 “Thunderbolt,” the world’s fastest interceptor plane, at Harding field, La., and with his fellow flyers is being taught combat flying tactics, according to word received from the public relations office there. Lt. Edel was graduated a fighter pilot from a Texas pilot school and received his commission in December.
Source: The Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Wednesday, February 02, 1944, Page 14 (photo included)
TAKES TRAINING IN ENGLAND
Second Lt. Clair B. Edel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Edel, route 3, is now overseas and has participated in a course designed to bridge the gap between training in the states and soldier in an active theater of war, it was announced by an air service command station somewhere in England. Lt. Edel was graduated a fighter pilot from a Texas pilot school and received his commission in December.
Source: The Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Monday, June 19, 1944, Page 16
MISSING OVER FRANCE
Lt. Clair Edel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Edel, route 3, has been missing in action over France since Aug. 26, according to a telegram received Tuesday by his parents.
Lt. Edel was a pilot on a Thunderbolt and had been overseas since May. He had been awarded the air medal about 2 months ago. A letter written by him 2 days before he was missing had been received here. He received his commission in Texas last December upon being graduated from a fighter pilot school there.
Source: The Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Thursday, September 14, 1944, Page 15
Lt. Edel Declared Dead After Missing A Year
Fighter Pilot Not Seen to Parachute When Plane Exploded
Second Lt. Clair B. Edel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Edel, route 3, has been officially declared dead after missing a year in France, it was stated in a message received here from the War Department.
Lt. Edel was on a mission over Rouen, France, when his ship, a P-47 Thunderbolt, was seen to be in trouble, it was reported. Immediately an explosion followed and the lieutenant was not seen parachuting out. That was on Aug. 26, 1944.
Clair was born Dec. 8, 1921, at Haverhill and came to Mason City with his parents in 1924. He was graduated from St. Joseph’s high school here and was in his 2nd year of junior college when he left for the service in Jan. 1943. He received his commission as a fighter pilot at Moore field, Mission, Tex., in Dec. 1943. He went overseas in May, 1944, and had been awarded the Air Medal.
Besides his parents, he is survived by one brother, 2nd Lt. Elmer W. Edel, now in Hawaii, and 8 sisters. They are: Mrs. Alice Whalen, Chicago; Mrs. Louise Holfer, Mason City; Mrs. Irene Pedelty, Denver, Colo.; and Joan, Esther, Shirley, Barbara, and Karen, all at home.
Source: Mason City Globe-Gazette, September 1, 1945 (photo included)
MEMORIAL SERVICE SUNDAY TO HONOR FIGHTING MEN
Joint public memorial service honoring 6 men of the armed forces who have given their lives in combat will be held Sunday afternoon at 4 o’clock at Music Hall. The Rev. Ernest A. Bergeson, pastor of the Immanuel Lutheran Church, will give the eulogy. Mrs. T. J. Kiesselbach will be soloist.
Burial flags from the U. S. government will be present to the next of kin of the following: Clair B. Edel, Gordon Findlay, Edwin E. Sowles, Donald G. Stubbs, William F. Wahrer, Jr., and Cletus D. Weiland.
Gold star citation scrolls from the national department of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars and flowers from the 2 organizations will also be presented to the relatives of the men honored.
The service will open with a 5 minute piano prelude, played by Mrs. Harry Wolf. Honor guard and firing squad for the service will be furnished by Company E of the Iowa State Guard, under the command of Capt. Leslie Whipple.
A letter of condolence from the city government will be read by Mrs. Clifford Dehnert, president of the American Legion Auxiliary. Buglers of the day are Bill Nicholas and John Reuber. The services, sponsored by the American Legion and the V. F. W., will be under the direction of the Legion, with Comdr. Elias Kelroy presiding.
All veterans’ organizations will attend in a body with their colors and are requested to be a Music Hall at 3:45.
Tyler Stewart is in charge of arrangements.
Source: Mason City Globe-Gazette, September 28, 1945 (photos included)
Clair Bernard Edel was born Dec. 8, 1921 to Charles H. and Anna Margaret Stalzer Edel. He died Aug. 26, 1944 and is buried in Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France. 2nd Lt. Edel served with the U.S. Army Air Corps 313rd Fighter Squadron, 50th Fighter Group and was awarded the Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters.
Source: ancestry.com; abmc.gov
