PFC John R. CHILDS 1921-1945

CHILDS, JONES

Posted By: Andrew Brown (email)
Date: 11/1/2010 at 09:08:16

PFC John R. CHILDS

Manchester, Ia. – Mr. & Mrs. Ralph E. Childs of four miles northeast of Manchester, who only a few months ago were notified by the War Department that their son, Lt. Everett Lynn Childs, was missing in combat duty over Germany, and later learned that the report was false, learned this week that a younger son, Pfc. John R. Childs, 23, had been killed.

The message from the War Department stated that John had been killed in action in France Jan. 5 (1945). The parents last letter from him was dated Dec. 17 last, when he stated that he had arrived in France.

Childs was born on the home farm Aug. 3, 1921, and graduated from the Manchester high school in 1939. He assisted his father on the farm until June 30, 1942, when he enlisted and went to Camp Dodge. He was later transferred to Jefferson Barracks, Mo.; then to Camp Robinson, Ark., and later to Camp Tracy, Cal., where for one and one-half years he was on military police duty.

He enjoyed a 24-hour leave with his parents here Nov. 16 (1944) while being transferred to Ft. Leonard Wood. From California Childs was transferred to Camp Adair, Ore., then to Fort Leonard Wood and from that point to an eastern camp and then overseas.

Survivors are his parents(Ralph CHILDS & Katherine JONES), three brothers, Lt. Everett Lynn Childs, now in a rest camp at Ft. Logan, Colo.; Harold and Roger at home; and three sisters, Cadet Lucille Childs at Allen Memorial Hospital in Waterloo (IA), June Childs who teaches at Waterloo, and Marjorie at home.

While in Manchester, Pfc. Childs was active in 4-H club work and was a member of the local Presbyterian Church.

(Waterloo IA Daily Courier 24JAN1945)

Notes: Body in 1948 was returned from Europe and re-buried in Manchester, IA Oakland Cemetery

John, at time of death, was engaging German troops in the Alsace/Lorraine Region of FRANCE.