Burt Man Thought Youngest Granddad
To Enlist in Navy
BURT – Joe Higgins, 42-year-old barber, for several years has been an ordinary grandfather. But he achieved distinction Monday when he left Mason City for Des Moines to be inducted into the navy – C. R. Moore, naval recruiting officer at Mason City hailed him as the youngest grandfather in the state of Iowa to enlist in the navy in World war II.
Higgins will enter the navy as a seaman first class and will continue his tonsorial work in the service. He will be sent from Des Moines to the Great Lakes naval training station, Moore said.
He served a year and a half in France during the last war.
Source: The Globe-Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Sunday, July 27, 1942
Activities of Burt Soldiers and Sailors
Seaman 1-c Joe Higgins left Tuesday for the Great Lakes Naval Training Station after spending a few weeks leave with his family and other relatives in and near here.
Source: Algona Upper Des Moines, June 27, 1944
Joseph Thomas “Joe” Higgins was born Aug. 26, 1898 to Patrick J. and Julia McMahon Higgins. He died Aug. 28, 1945 and is buried in West Bend Cemetery, West Bend, IA.
Petty Officer Higgins served in World War II with the U.S. Navy. He also served in France in World War I.
Source: ancestry.com
