Cpl. Findlay Died in France on Aug. 15, Message States
Had Been Overseas Two Years and in France 14 Months
T/5 Gordon Findlay, died in France on Aug. 15, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Findlay, 852 East State, were notified in a message from the War Department Saturday.
No details of Cpl. Findlay’s death were given, but it was stated that a confirming letter would follow. He was stationed at Marseille, France, attached to the headquarters company of the 257th ordnance battalion.
Gordon was born on Oct. 24, 1915, in Mason City. He attended the public schools and was graduated from the high school. He was employed by the Buick company in Detroit, Mich., at the time of entering the Army on July 12, 1942. He had been overseas 2 years, and in France 14 months.
Besides his parents, he is survived by 2 brothers: Don, of Fort Dodge, and Roy of Mason City; a sister, Mrs. Frank J. Store of Chicago; and his fiancée, Miss Nora O’Halloran, of Liverpool, England.
In June of this year, he had spent his furlough in Liverpool and with his aunt, Miss Alexina Findlay, in Forfar, Scotland.
Source: Mason City Globe-Gazette, September 1, 1945 (photo included)
MEMORIAL SERVICE SUNDAY TO HONOR FIGHTING MEN
Joint public memorial service honoring 6 men of the armed forces who have given their lives in combat will be held Sunday afternoon at 4 o’clock at Music Hall. The Rev. Ernest A. Bergeson, pastor of the Immanuel Lutheran Church, will give the eulogy. Mrs. T. J. Kiesselbach will be soloist.
Burial flags from the U. S. government will be present to the next of kin of the following: Clair B. Edel, Gordon Findlay, Edwin E. Sowles, Donald G. Stubbs, William F. Wahrer, Jr., and Cletus D. Weiland.
Gold star citation scrolls from the national department of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars and flowe4rs from the 2 organizations will also be presented to the relatives of the men honored.
The service will open with a 5 minute piano prelude, played by Mrs. Harry Wolf. Honor guard and firing squad for the service will be furnished by Company E of the Iowa State Guard, under the command of Capt. Leslie Whipple.
A letter of condolence from the city government will be read by Mrs. Clifford Dehnert, president of the American Legion Auxiliary. Buglers of the day are Bill Nicholas and John Reuber. The services, sponsored by the American Legion and the V. F. W., will be under the direction of the Legion, with Comdr. Elias Kelroy presiding.
All veterans’ organizations will attend in a body with their colors and are requested to be a Music Hall at 3:45.
Tyler Stewart is in charge of arrangements.
Source: Mason City Globe-Gazette, September 28, 1945 (photos included)
MEMORIAL HELD FOR 6 MEN WHO DIED IN SERVICE
Bergeson Speaks on Triumph Over Sorrow in Eulogizing Dead
"To you who have faced this sorrow may you be able to ascend your Mount Moriah," spoke the Rev. Ernest A. Borgeson, pastor of the Immanuel Lutheran church, at public memorial service at Music hall Sunday afternoon in eulogizing the lives of 6 servicemen from this community.
Maj. Louis D. Kuss, commanding officer from the ATC air base, Wold-Chamberlain field, Minneapolis, was in attendance to present the air medal with oak leaf cluster to G. C. Stubbs, awarded posthumously to his son, Donald G. Stubbs, one of the men honored.
The other five to whom tribute was paid and whose relatives were presented burial flags from the U. S. government were Clair B. Edel, Gordon Findlay, Edwin E. Sowles, William F. Wahrer, Jr., and Cletus D. Weiland. Gold star citation scrolls and flowers from the local American Legion post and the V. F. W. were also given to the next of kin.
"There are many sorrows that we must face but many that come to us if we cannot ascend our Mount Moriah," said Mr. Bergeson, drawing a parallel between the sacrifices families have been asked to make in the war and the sacrifice Abraham was asked to make in offering his only son, Isaac on the altar at Mount Moriah.
". . . God said to Abraham, 'Because thou hast not withheld I will bless thee - in thy seed all nations of the earth shall be blessed.'
"May you too ascend your Mount Moriah and carry on what they fought for the way God would have us let go, and go forth for what they died for. May we gain new strength and power to face the world without those who have gone . . . to surrender to God and go forth to do our tasks in life knowing that these dead have done theirs," concluded the pastor.
Maj. Kuss in the brief presentation of the award to Mr. Stubbs said in part: "By direction of the president and in behalf of the government of the United States, I present this medal awarded to your son for meritorious service with the 15th AAF in Italy."
A letter of condolence from the city government written by Mayor H. E. Bruce was read by Mrs. Clifford Delinert, president of the American Legion Auxiliary, "For many families war was over for their fathers, sons, brothers or husbands long before the war was officially declared over," it read. "For those who have only the dear memories of their loved ones, and the pride of their epic achievement, the situation resolves itself into a pattern of hope that these, the flower of our young manhood, shall not have died in vain."
The program opened with a piano prelude played by Mrs. Harry Wolf. Mrs. T. J. Kiesselbach sang "Prayer" by Guion and "O Brother, Fold In Thy Heart, Thy Brother" by Ward. She was accompanied by Mrs. Wolf.
The honor guard and firing squad were furnished by Company E of the Iowa state guard, Sgt. Frank Schoben in charge. Others in the group were Pfc. Dean Jacobson, Pvt. Bob Frid, Pvt. Antonio Devell, Jr., and Pvt. Jack Kalopostos.
Patriotic organizations attended in a body with their colors. Elias Kelroy, commander of the Legion, presided. Tyler Stewart was in charge of arrangements.
Source: The Globe Gazette Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa October 01, 1945, Page 11
2 Transports Bring Yanks Home to Rest
Two ships returning with World War II dead from Europe and the Pacific are scheduled to arrive this week.
The army transport, Lawrence Victory, carrying the bodies of 4,183 Americans was to dock at the Brooklyn army base Friday. On this ship are 59 Iowans. The dead on this ship were originally interred in temporary military cemeteries at Epinal, St. Mere Eglise, LaCambe and St. Juan, France.
The Cardinal O’Connell, making her second funeral ship voyage, is due Friday at San Francisco with the remains of 2,024 war dead from India, Guadalcanal, Australia, New Zealand, the Central Pacific and the Hawaiian Islands. On this ship are 42 Iowans.
North Iowans on the 2 ships are as follows:
Lawrence Victory:
T-4 Gordon Findlay, Mason City.
Source: Mason City Globe-Gazette, May 7, 1948
Sgt. Gordon Findlay is buried in Elmwood Saint Joseph Cemetery, Mason City, IA.
Source: ancestry.com
