Memorial Rites For Sgt. W. J. Weber At Whittemore Thursday
Algona, Dec. 31 — Sgt. Wilmer J. Weber, son of Mr. and Mrs. Simon Weber, will be memorialized in services at 9:30 Thursday, January 3 at St. Michael’s Catholic church in Whittemore. The Rev. Father William Veit, who was a chaplain during World War I will have charge of the ceremony which will be in charge of Seely-Walsh post of the American Legion.
Honorary pallbearers will be Cletus Muller, Bernard Kajewski, Stanley Brogan, Bernard Freden, Francis Priester and Morris Steier.
The young sergeant was reported missing over Vienna Austria, December 11, 1944, and his parents were notified recently that he had been officially declared dead after no trace of him had been found since the “reported missing date.” He was a gunner on a B-24. Lost with him were nine other crew members.
Source: Unknown newspaper, submitted by Jerry Yocum Historian, Camp Algona POW Museum, Algona, IA (photo included)
80 Kossuth Men Officially Listed As Casualties In War
FIRST RELEASE OF STATE HISTORICAL DEATH SUMMARIES
Eighty men from Kossuth county lost their lives while in the service of their country in World War II.
KOSSUTH WAR DEAD.
Weber, Wilmer, Sgt.
Declared dead after being missing Dec. 11, 1944.
Parents: Mr. and Mrs. Simeon Weber, Whittemore, Ia.
Source: The Algona Upper DesMoines, Tuesday, January 22, 1946 – page 7.
Wilmer J. Weber was born Nov. 1, 1920 to Simon Peter and Anna Elizabeth Waynes Weber. He died Dec. 11, 1944 and is buried in Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France and has a cenotaph in Saint Michaels Catholic Cemetery, Whittemore, IA.
Sgt. Weber served in World War II with the U.S. Army Air Corps was KIA over Vienna, Austria. He was a ball turret gunner on B-24J #44-41114, based out of Italy and it had just dropped its bombs when it took a direct hit in the bomb bays, causing the plane to explode. He was awarded the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster.
Source: ancestry.com
