Stratford Serviceman Missing in Sea Action
STRATFORD—Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Mellgren have receive word from the navy department that their son, Virgil Mellgren, Y 1-c, is missing in action in the Pacific area.
Another Stratford serviceman, Leon W. Eckstein, PhM 1-c, a Jap prisoner in the Philippines since the fall of Bataan, has evidently been transferred to the Jap mainland, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. S. Eckstein, have been notified by the Red Cross.
Source: Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA - March 29, 1945
VIRGIL MELLGREN DIED IN ACTION IN PACIFIC AREA
Virgil Mellgren, Y 1-c, of Des Moines, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Mellgren of Stratford, died in action in the south Pacific, according to official notice from the navy department received by his wife, Mrs. Viola Mellgren of Des Moines.
Mellgren previously had been listed as missing in action. He was graduated from high school at Stratford and entered the navy in 1942.
Besides his wife and parents, he is survived by two sisters, Mrs. John Berry of Lakeview, Iowa and Mrs. Stanley Johnson of Stratford; and four brothers, Archie, Des Moines, Russell, Frederick, Wis., Pfc. Homer at Pearl Harbor, and Pete, Baker first class, in the navy.
Source: Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA - April 21, 1945
Virgil Leroy Mellgren, Yeoman First Class U.S. Navy - MIA/KIA
Virgil Leroy Mellgren was born Sept. 2, 1910, to Hans J. and Sarah M. Sexe Mellgren. He died Feb. 21, 1945, and is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing, Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, HI.
Virgil was declared missing in action in the Pacific area in Feb. 1945. He was declared killed in action in the South Pacific. His body is still aboard the USS Bismarck Sea (CVE-95). Virgil was awarded the Purple Heart.
Sources:
Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA
ancestry.com
World War II Memorial
USS Bismarck Sea CVE-95
