Four Seaman of Sioux City Area Are Reported Missing in Action by Navy
Sidney Blackford and Jonas Lindstrom became buddies when they met at a naval training station and found that each was from Sioux City. They finished training together and were assigned to the same ship. Both have been reported missing in action.
Two Sioux Cityans and two brothers of Cherokee, sailors in the navy, have been reported missing in action by the navy department.
Sidney Blackford, son of Mr. and Mrs. Guy L. Blackford, 2210 W. Lunah Avenue and Jonas Lindstrom, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Lindstrom, 4101 Madison Street, are the Sioux Cityans. The Cherokee brothers are O.C. and Harold McManus, son of Mr. and Mrs. W.M. McManus.
The Sioux Cityans both were 20 years old. Jonas was graduated from Central High School and Sidney attended Salix High School. Parents of the men received telegrams from the navy department with the news that the seaman were missing.
O.C. McManus, 27, was a painter second class. He joined the navy August 16, 1936. He was transferred to the Houston in 1940.
Harold McManus, 22, graduated from Wilson High School at Cherokee in 1938, when he won the state high school wrestling title at 155 pounds. He joined the navy March 12, 1940.
Among members of the McManus family are one other son, Roy of Cherokee and five daughters, Ethel Hazelene, Doradean and Gladys Witte, all of Cherokee and Mrs. Gertrude Howard of Tekamah, Nebraska.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, March 16, 1942 (photo included)
Harold Edward “Harry" McManus was born Feb. 28, 1920 to Walter M. and Alice G. Raney McManus. He died Sept. 12, 2010 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Cherokee, IA.
Petty Officer McManus served in World War II with the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Houston (CA-30) and became a Japanese POW and spent close to four years in prison camp with the “Lost Battalion”. He also served in Korea.
His brother, O.C. McManus was born Apr. 15, 1914 and also served aboard the USS Houston (CA-30) and became a Japanese POW. After capture by the Japanese they never saw each other again until they returned to their home town. He died Nov. 23, 2005 and is buried in Resurrection Cemetery, Montebello, CA. He also served in Korea, retiring from the Navy in 1957.
Another brother, Roy L. McManus was born Feb. 12, 1911 and served with the 399th Infantry Regiment. He died Mar. 31, 2000 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Cherokee, IA.
Source: ancestry.com; photo courtesy of N.D. Scheidt via FindAGrave
