2 WEBSTER CITY SOLDIERS HURT IN WAR ACTION
News of two more Webster City war casualties has been received here by H. G. Caquelin and Mr. and Mrs. Fred Keast.
Mr. and Mrs. Keast have been notified that their son, Sgt. Earl Keast, has been awarded the purple heart for wounds received recently in Germany.
The sergeant has written his parents also that he had met Lyman Mertz, another Webster City soldier while he was in a hospital for treatment. Mertz is attached to a medical corps unit working at the hospital.
Source: Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA - Dec. 13, 1944
Earl Keast, 33, Died March 15
W. C. Soldier Killed in Germany With U. S. First Army.
Pfc. Earl Keast, 33, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Keast of this city was killed in action March 15, in Germany, his parents were notified Wednesday morning.
The Webster City soldier had been overseas eight months and was attached to the First army infantry. A former member of the Iowa National Guard unit in this city, Private Keast did not leave with the unit in 1941, but he later served for a considerable time with the Iowa State Guard police battalion stationed at Camp Dodge. He had been in regular army service for more than a year.
Besides his parents, he leaves his wife, one son and two adopted children now living at Ames, and two brothers—William of Des Moines and Bob, who is serving with an armed guard unit of the U. S. navy in the Philippine war theater.
Source: Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA - Apr. 4, 1945
GETS CERTIFICATE.
Mrs. Earle W. Keast of Ames, daughter-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Keast of this city, has received a memorial certificate signed by the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The memorial stated in part:
“In grateful memory of Pfc. Earle W. Keast, Co. F. 39th Infantry, who died in service of his country, was with Hodge’s First army in Germany. He stands in the unbroken line of patriots who died that freedom might live and grow and increase in its blessings.”
The Webster City soldier, a former member of Co. E., Iowa National Guard of this city, was killed in Germany, March 15, 1945, and was awarded the purple heart medal. He is buried in the U.S. military cemetery at Henri Chapelle, Belgium.
Source: Daily Freeman Journal, September 14, 1945
NOTES:
Earl W. Keast was born 1913 to Fred E. and Myrtle J. Linahan Keast. He died Mar. 15, 1945 and is buried in the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Henri-Chapelle, Belgium Plot: E Row: 3 Grave: 49.
Pfc. Keast was serving with the First Army, 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division in Germany when he was killed. He was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster.
Sources:
Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA
ancestry.com
World War II Memorial
