Two Waterloo Men Reported Killed in Action
Get Further Report About Man Now Missing.
Two more Waterloo men were reported killed in action Saturday, according to telegrams received from the war department by their parents and further information was also received concerning a third Waterloo man, who had previously been reported missing in action.
Those killed in action were:
Pfc. Richard L. Smith, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd J. Smith, 1316 Hawthorne avenue, killed in action Jan. 31 in Belgium, while serving with an infantry unit attached to the Third army.
Pfc. James Burton Murley, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Murley, 532 Randall street, killed in action on Jan. 19 in France, while serving with the army medical corps.
Pvt. James Edward Hutchens, son of Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Hutchens, 206 Harwood avenue, listed as missing in action since Dec. 25.
[Page 23] Private Murley was formerly employed by the Carnation Co., before entering the armed service Sept. 17, 1943.
He was born on March 23, 1923, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Murley, at Kanawha, Ia. When he was three years old his parents moved with him to Pine Island, Minn. There he attended school and came to Waterloo about two years ago.
Surviving are his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Murley, 532 Randall street; two sisters, Ramona, 16 and Fey, 8, and three brothers, Thomas, 12, Richard, 6, and David, 10 months, whom James had never seen.
Following his induction he received training at Camp Barkely, Tex., where he remained until February of 1944, later going to Camp Reynolds, Penn. He went overseas in May of 1944. His father is employed at Imperial Cleaners in Waterloo.
James was a member of the Presbyterian church at Oronoco, Minn.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Sunday, February 18, 1945, Section Two, Pages 13 & 23 (photo included)
James Burton Murley was born Mar. 22, 1925 to Thomas and Martha Elizabeth Shaw Murley. He died Jan. 19, 1945 and is buried in Lorraine American Cemetery, Saint Avold, France.
Pvt. Murley served in World War II with the U.S. Army 313th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division. He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Sources: ancestry.com; abmc.gov
