STOOD GUARD AT JAP SURRENDER.
Garner Seaman Served on Douglas Transport.
Garner—Kenneth Bell, seaman 1/c of the navy received his discharge on Nov. 21, at Minneapolis. He was inducted Jan. 31, 1944, and served overseas 18 ½ months as an orderly on a Douglas Aircraft transport.
He flew all over the southwest Pacific carrying supplies and bringing back wounded men. Bell’s plane made 26 flights out of Okinawa, Iwo Jima and Saipan during the height of those battles and was the first navy plane to land in Japan, landing at Tokyo.
Seaman Bell stood guard on the gang plank at Manila when Japanese officers were sent to get MacArthur’s orders for surrender.
Among decorations he received were the Asiatic-Pacific theater ribbon, Philippine ribbon and 3 battle stars. His wife and 2 children lived here while he was in service and the family plan to remain in Garner.
Source: Globe-Gazette (Mason City, Iowa) December 17, 1945
Kenneth Eugene Bell was born Apr. 21, 1913 to William and Julia Brannan Bell. He died Oct. 6, 1990 and is buried in Concord Cemetery, Garner, IA.
Source: ancestry.com
