The Greatest Generation (Part Three)

(Hurst - Mulvaney)

 For notes and background about this project, please refer to Part One of this series.

NAME: Woodrow Thomas Hurst
RANK & BRANCH: Private, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: April 6, 1917 – March 10, 1988
DATES OF SERVICE: February 3, 1941 – October 16, 1944
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Woodrow Hurst was a 1936 graduate of Terrace Park High School.
 
NAME: Howard Edwin Ilhardt
RANK & BRANCH: Signalman Third Class, U.S. Navy
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: February 17, 1927 – July 9, 1997
DATES OF SERVICE: May 9, 1944 – June 12, 1946
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Howard Ilhardt served on LST-720 during the war. LST-720 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the Lingayen Gulf and Mindanao Island landings in early 1945. It later performed occupation duty in the Far East before returning to the U.S. and being decommissioned in June 1946.

From the Cincinnati Post, August 1, 1944

NAME: Philip Illie, Jr. 
RANK & BRANCH: Coxswain, U.S. Coast Guard
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: March 4, 1923 – June 15, 2013
DATES OF SERVICE: Approximately 1941 - 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Philip Illie was a 1941 graduate of Plainville High School, where he served as president of his junior class. In June 1945, when he was serving on a Coast Guard combat vessel in the South Pacific, Illie made a record telling about his life at sea that was played on Cincinnati radio station WCKY.

From 1941 Plainville High School yearbook

NAME: Ralph Charles Johns 
RANK & BRANCH: Private, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: April 11, 1924 – July 5, 1995
DATES OF SERVICE: January 20, 1943 – approximately 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Ralph Johns served overseas as a motor mechanic. After his initial military service ended, Johns worked as a civilian guard at Fort Benning, Georgia. He reenlisted in June 1948 and served again until March 1950.

From the Cincinnati Post, February 7, 1944

NAME: Leland Marvin Johnson
RANK & BRANCH: First Sergeant, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: November 11, 1916 – January 21, 2006
DATES OF SERVICE: March 17, 1941 – September 3, 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Leland Johnson served in the infantry and was wounded in action on his 28th birthday, sustaining a fracture of the fibula after being hit by artillery shell fragments.
 
NAME: Samuel Howard Keim
RANK & BRANCH: Private, U.S. Army Air Forces
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: September 26, 1919 – February 28, 2002
DATES OF SERVICE: August 1, 1942 – December 1, 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
 
NAME: Walter Raleigh King
RANK & BRANCH: Corporal, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: July 1, 1923 – February 1, 1986
DATES OF SERVICE: January 27, 1943 – November 19, 1946
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
 
NAME: Lester John Klein 
RANK & BRANCH: Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: February 4, 1919 – June 8, 1986
DATES OF SERVICE: November 25, 1940 – December 31, 1966
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Lester Klein served as a military police officer and investigator and made the Army his career. 

Used with the permission of Ancestry.com user Buford78.

This photo was taken at the Klein home in Fairfax.

NAME: Leroy Louis Klettner 
RANK & BRANCH: Master Sergeant, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: April 9, 1918 – December 18, 2009
DATES OF SERVICE: October 29, 1941 – at least July 1944
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Leroy Klettner was a 1936 graduate of Terrace Park High School. He had attended college and was working in advertising at Procter & Gamble at the time he was drafted. He served in Africa and Europe and received the Legion of Merit from General Mark Clark (see photo).

From the Cincinnati Enquirer, July 11, 1944.

(Note: Available documentation indicates that Klettner lived in Fairfax when he entered the service. 

His mother lived in Terrace Park at the time he was decorated.)

NAME: Aaron Henry Knabe 
RANK & BRANCH: Seaman Third Class, U.S. Navy
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: October 9, 1922 – December 21, 1981
DATES OF SERVICE: April 23, 1945 – April 30, 1946
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Aaron “Hank” Knabe’s brother Earl also served.

From the Cincinnati Post, September 6, 1945

NAME: Earl Terry Knabe, Jr.
RANK & BRANCH: Private, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: January 30, 1919 – September 26, 1991
DATES OF SERVICE: June 25, 1945 – December 15, 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
 
NAME:  James Martin Kruse 
RANK & BRANCH: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: January 29, 1921 – January 23, 1982
DATES OF SERVICE: October 7, 1942 – December 29, 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: James Kruse was wounded in action on July 21, 1944 at the Battle of Guam. He sent his younger brother Harold a Japanese rifle, bayonet, and battle flag from the invasion of Guam when he sent his Purple Heart home.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer, February 15, 1945

NAME: John Adam Kuebler
RANK & BRANCH: Aviation Machinist’s Mate Third Class, U.S. Navy
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: March 2, 1924 – June 4, 2010
DATES OF SERVICE: March 1943 -
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: John Kuebler attended the school for aviation groundmen at the Navy Technical Training Center in Chicago. John’s brother Robert also served in the Navy.
 
NAME: Robert Stanley Kuebler
RANK & BRANCH: Boatswain’s Mate Third Class, U.S. Navy
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: August 16, 1925 – February 21, 2014
DATES OF SERVICE: October 4, 1945 – at least October 1947
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
 
NAME: Vern Richard Latham
RANK & BRANCH: Private, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: December 1, 1922 - unknown
DATES OF SERVICE: January 20, 1943 -
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
 
NAME: Jesse Glenn Lockhart
RANK & BRANCH: Private, U.S. Marine Corps
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: October 25, 1924 - July 28, 1995
DATES OF SERVICE: November 27, 1941 – 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Jesse Lockhart served in a machine gun company in the Pacific Theater. On August 7, 1942, he landed with the First Marines Division on Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands. He was wounded in action the following day. He received the Purple Heart and a President’s citation. He was discharged due to his injuries.

 

From the Cincinnati Times Star, November 1, 1942

NAME: Arthur Wellington Lovins II
RANK & BRANCH: Private, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: April 11, 1924 – January 24, 1985
DATES OF SERVICE: January 27, 1943 – December 24, 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
 
NAME: Harry Earl Malady
RANK & BRANCH: Seaman Second Class, U.S. Navy
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: August 23, 1906 – January 4, 1969
DATES OF SERVICE: March 28, 1944 – February 3, 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Harry Earl Malady was stationed at the Naval Air Technical Training Center at Norman, Oklahoma.
 
NAME: Sidney Martin Malone
RANK & BRANCH: Torpedoman’s Mate Second Class, U.S. Navy
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: January 10, 1925 – November 21, 2001
DATES OF SERVICE: January 21, 1942 – January 13, 1946
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Sidney Malone served on the destroyer USS Watts from May 13, 1944 until he was discharged.
 
NAME: Elmer Deforest Martin
RANK & BRANCH: Chief Petty Officer, U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: February 17, 1909 – April 1, 1982
DATES OF SERVICE: September 1, 1943 – October 24, 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: After his wartime service was complete, Elmer Martin continued to serve in the Navy Reserve for at least 24 years.
 
NAME: Leslie William McDine
RANK & BRANCH: Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Forces
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: March 19, 1924 – September 30, 2016
DATES OF SERVICE: October 24, 1942 – June 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Leslie McDine served in the Army Air Forces Ground Crew at Seymour Johnson Field in North Carolina, then trained as an aerial gunner at the Flexible Gunnery School in Panama City, Florida. He later served as a B-26 engineer and gunner in the European theater, participating in over 60 combat missions. He was awarded the Air Medal and three Oak Leaf Clusters.
 
NAME: Oather Gene Meese
RANK & BRANCH: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Forces
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH:  May 21, 1923 - December 24, 2017
DATES OF SERVICE: January 20, 1943 - 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Gene Meese was born and raised in Plainville and graduated from Plainville High School in 1941. After his mother died, his father remarried and the family lived in Fairfax. He served as a tail gunner on a B-17 and was shot down and taken prisoner by the Germans on April 9, 1944. He was held prisoner for 13 months. Gene was interviewed by the Cincinnati Public Library for the Veterans History Project: https://digital.cincinnatilibrary.org/digital/collection/p16998coll27/id/1717/. (Note that Gene did not state that he lived in Fairfax in his interview, but at the time of his June 1942 draft registration he listed his address on Watterson.)
 
NAME: Charles Joseph Metz
RANK & BRANCH: Private, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: April 27, 1927 – November 16, 1980
DATES OF SERVICE: August 27, 1945 – December 25, 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

NAME: Edwin Frank Meyer, Jr. 
RANK & BRANCH: Private, Army Air Forces
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: March 7, 1927 – November 1, 2005
DATES OF SERVICE: June 25, 1945 – August 5, 1946
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Edwin Meyer was a 1945 graduate of Plainville High School, where he was a class officer and captain of the football team. Edwin’s brother Norbert also served during the war.

From the 1945 Plainville High School yearbook

NAME: Norbert Edwin Meyer
RANK & BRANCH: Radioman First Class, U.S. Navy
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: January 3, 1924 – March 4, 2009
DATES OF SERVICE: December 14, 1942 – November 28, 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Norbert Meyer served on the USS Holder (DE-401) from the time it was commissioned in January 1944 until it was towed to New York less than a year later, after it came under attack by the Germans off the coast of Algeria. In August 1944 he transferred to USS Lee Fox and served there until he was discharged. Norbert was interviewed by the Cincinnati Public Library for the Veterans History Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIjxqBcxLTg
 
NAME: John Wendell Mikel 
RANK & BRANCH: Corporal, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: January 26, 1925 – November 12, 1993
DATES OF SERVICE: March 27, 1943 – November 17, 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: John Mikel was reported as missing in action on January 30, 1944 while serving as an Army Ranger in the Battle of Cisterna in Italy. In May 1944, John’s mother received a card from him and learned he was a prisoner of the Germans. He was liberated on April 13, 1945.

From the Cincinnati Post, April 3, 1944

NAME: Clyde Garr Mineer
RANK & BRANCH: Private First Class, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: October 14, 1918 - January 15, 1999
DATES OF SERVICE: April 29, 1944 – November 25, 1946
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
 
NAME: Arthur Martin Molitor
RANK & BRANCH: Private, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: August 6, 1911 – June 25, 1982
DATES OF SERVICE: November 9, 1942 – August 31, 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
 
NAME: Steve Momich
RANK & BRANCH: Private, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: October 6, 1912 – September 22, 1976
DATES OF SERVICE: December 30, 1942 – May 27, 1943
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
 
NAME: Edward Harry Mulvaney
RANK & BRANCH: Corporal, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: September 9, 1918 – April 25, 1979
DATES OF SERVICE: November 19, 1941 – September 25, 1944
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Edward Mulvaney’s sister Lorraine and brothers Franklin and Harry also served during the war. Edward was a gunner in the Tank Corps in North Africa and then served in Italy, where he was sustained a hand injury in action in April 1944. He was the namesake of his uncle Edward Harry Mulvaney who was killed in World War I on July 22, 1918, less than two months before his birth.

Used with permission of Ancestry.com user pfm0322.

 
NAME: Franklin George Mulvaney, Jr.
RANK & BRANCH: Sergeant, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: May 4, 1923 – February 16, 1994
DATES OF SERVICE: January 27, 1943 – January 26, 1946
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Used with permission of Ancestry.com user pfm0322.

 

NAME: Harry Westley Mulvaney
RANK & BRANCH: U.S. Navy
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: May 27, 1926 – October 5, 2015
DATES OF SERVICE: August 1944 -
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Harry “Mickey” Mulvaney served on the USS Shangri-La.
 
NAME: James Thomas Mulvaney
RANK & BRANCH: Private, U.S. Army
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: July 1, 1926 – December 8, 1990
DATES OF SERVICE: September 29, 1944 – November 24, 1946
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
 
NAME: Lorraine E. Mulvaney Vogelsang 
RANK & BRANCH: Sergeant, U.S. Women’s Army Corps
DATES OF BIRTH & DEATH: August 29, 1921 - February 8, 2022
DATES OF SERVICE: February 23, 1943 – August 1945
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Lorraine Mulvaney was stationed at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia and the Army Air Field in Lubbock, Texas, serving as a clerk and a company baker. She celebrated her 100^th birthday in 2021. 

From https://www.wpafb.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2743213/womens-army-corps-veteran-celebrates-her-100th-birthday/