IRETON—
Case Schipper received a telegram Jan. 16 from the Secretary of War that his son, Sgt. Reuben Schipper, is missing in action in France, since Dec. 30. Mr. Schipper received a letter Dec. 29 from his son.
Source: Sioux Center News, January 25, 1945
Lest We Forget
Sgt. Rueben Schipper was born in Center township northwest of Ireton, Iowa, on August 19, 1921. He received his education in the rural schools of this community and the Ireton school. He worked on various farms in this vicinity and in November 1941 he entered the Tank Division. He was with the United States troops during the Belgium Bulge and was killed in a battle, Dec. 30, 1944. Rueben is survived by his father, Case Schipper; two sisters, Pearl and Geneva; and four brothers, Delbert, Cornie, Andy and Walter. He is also survived by his aged grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Ruert DeGroot, of Sioux Center and an aged grandfather in the Netherlands.
Source: The Ireton Ledger, Thursday, May 30, 1946 (photo included)
On the first Memorial Day following the end of the war, the Ireton Ledger paid tribute to the Ireton community’s casualties under the headline, “Lest We Forget.”
Reuben Cornelius Schipper was born Aug. 19, 1921 to Cornelius and Jennie DeGroot Schipper. He died Dec. 30, 1944 and is buried in Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial, Dinoze, France. Sgt. Schipper was MIA/KIA and awarded the Purple Heart.
Source: ancestry.com; abmc.gov
