Military News

William H. Barnes, son of Mr. and Mrs. D. H. Barnes of Virgil, died in service to his county on September 6, 1945 in Germany, as the result of a plane crash.

He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. D. H. Barnes of Virgil, and graduated from Virgil High School before attending Huron College and the National University at Washington, DC. He went to work as a Classification Specialist with the war department in DC; his wife, Mary L. Barnes, lived there at 4232 Reno Rd. NW at the time of his death.

He joined the Engineering Corps in September of 1941, and was then transferred to air cadet training at Nashville, Tennessee. He was commissioned in October of 1943 at Craig Field, Selma, Alabama, and spent nine months as an instructor at Malden, Missouri. At the age of 24, as an Eighth Air Force fighter pilot, he was awarded the Air Medal for meritorious achievement in aerial combat, for a strafing attack on Burg Airdrome near Magdeburg, Germany. In the event, he destroyed a Focke-Wulf 190, and damaged two FW 190s. He was escorting a B-17 Flying Fortress to Burg Airdrome, their intended target. Flying a P-51 Mustang, he noticed enemy aircraft parked around the edge of the target, and in his own words:

"I was flying wingman for Captain Sam. D. Gevorkian (1865 N. Garfield, Pasadena, Calif.). I fired a very short burst at a machine gun emplacement, and then picked out three enemy aircraft which I believe to have been FW 190s. They were parked very close together in a heavy growth of trees.

"I fired a three-second burst at the first plane, and observe a good concentration of strikes all over the aircraft. I obtained scattered strikes on the other two 190s. Capt. Gevorkian made the second pass at this cluster of planes, and observed that the first plane I had attacked was afire."

The citation for his Air Medal reads: "For meritorious achievement while serving as fighter pilot during an extended period of aerial combat over Germany and German occupied Continental Europe. The courageous devotion to duty and outstanding flying ability displayed by Lt. Barnes reflect great credit upon himself and the armed forces of the United States."

He was killed on September 6, 1945 in Germany, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA, Sec. 12, Site 7144.

P-51 Mustangs, similar to that flown by Lt. Barnes
(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

Elra Barringer

Elra Franklin Barringer was born about 1916 to Ora Lyman & Margie M. Barringer in South Dakota. He lived with his family in Alpena, South Dakota through at least 1930. He joined the navy and was a Fire Controlman 2nd Class, service number 3164612.

On the evening of Feb. 28, 1942, the HMAS Perth and the USS Houston CA-30, on which Elra Barringer was assigned, were engaged in a deadly battle with Japanese forces. The Houston was pummeled with "4-6 torpedos, three entire salvos, eleven individual hits and additional hits that may have been shells or torpedoes."¹ They didn't stand a chance. The captain, Albert H. Rooks, USN, ordered evacuation of the ship. Those who weren't killed in the torpedo attacks, shot by the Japanese or drowned, were taken prisoner, facing a particularly grueling incarceration and forced labor. Of the crew of 1,061 just 368 survived. Elra Barringer was not among them. His body was never recovered/identified.

His parents, at the time of his death, resided at 1505 1/2 W. 20th St., Los Angeles, California.

(The death dates of Feb. 27 and Feb. 28 cited elsewhere are believed to be incorrect.)

The U. S. S. Houston in 1935, photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

Robert Barrows, son of Mr. & Mrs. George C. Barrows, was born Feb. 1, 1917, in South Dakota. The family had moved to Huron, where his father was a locomotive engineer for the Chicago & North Western Railway. The father died about 1939.

Robert enlisted in the US Navy as an apprentice seaman in Omaha, Nebraska on April 25, 1934. He was honorably discharged on June 4, 1938 from the USS Milwaukee. Two years later, on August 15, 1940, he re-enlisted as a seaman second class at Salt Lake City, Utah. He had attained the rank of seaman first class when he was killed in action at Mariveles, Bataan, Philippine Islands on January 25, 1942. He was awarded the Purple Heart.

His mother, at that time, was living at 545 Broadway, Gary, Indiana.

One record lists his last known status as "missing", with a monument at Fort William McKinley, Manila, The Philippines; another has a burial site at the Montana State Veterans Cemetery, Sec. B, Site R1-21. More research needs to be done to clarify this.

A poem, in honor of Robert Barrows, was written by a friend from his first enlistment, and presented to his mother after word has spread of his death. It reads:

"And now we hear you never will return again, To them who knew and loved you through the years

A gallant soldier - just a boy - and we are proud, Of you - although our eyes are dim with tears

You made the greatest sacrifice a man can make, You died to make it safe for us to live

And we salute you, Robert, with a silent prayer today, The only gift your family and friends can give."

John L. "Jack" Becker was born about March of 1919 in South Dakota to Mr. and Mrs. John L. Becker. By 1930 the family, which consisted of John, his parents, and older sister Beryl, had moved to Waterloo, Iowa*. He married Verna Brooks, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leo J. Brooks on January 1, 1942. He worked in Washington DC in the geological service topographical branch (presumably of the government). They were married only eight months when Jack enlisted in the service in September, inducted from Iowa. He did his basic training in Fort Belvoir, Virginia with flight training at Monroe, Louisiana. He received his commission in July of 1943, and did advanced training at Blythe, California. In November of 1943, he was sent to England, where he was a navigator on a B-24 in the 576th Bomber Squadron. On Feb. 21, 1944, he went missing over Germany, and was declared dead by the war department in May of 1945, after 15 months. His sister, Lt. Beryl Becker, was a dietician in an army hospital at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana.

Lt. Becker was awarded the Purple Heart and Air Medal, presented to his widow, Verna in Waterloo by Capt. Herman Lusky, nine months after he went missing. His citation was for "exceptionally meritorious achievements during continuous operational missions over enemy occupied territory."

B-24s in action, 1943
(public domain photo)