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| 966 | The History of Platte County Nebraska |
raids over Germany, on March 6 and March 8, 1943. He completed his eighteen missions over Germany. On March 8, 1943, he was wounded in action and spent twenty-seven days in a hospital before resuming his bombing raids.
On June 4, 1944, Lieutenant Clifford Galley died in action over England. He was a pilot of the B24 Liberator bomber, "Ak-Sar-Ben Belle." He received the Purple Heart and Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster.
A memorial service was held for him in 1944, at the Grace Episcopal Church in Columbus.
Private Harold Galley was born in Columbus, Nebraska, on March 19, 1912, and was killed in action in Germany on November 17, 1944. He was a member of one of the early pioneer families in Platte County, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Galley of Columbus Township.
He had two brothers, Walter and Wayne Galley, and one sister, Norma Galley Berry, living; and a brother, Ralph, and a sister, Rosella Galley, deceased.
On June 19, 1935, Harold Galley was united in marriage to Miss Irene Smith, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Smith of Columbus Township. Harold Galley and Irene Smith Galley had one daughter, Carolyn Galley.
As a boy, Harold resided on the Galley farm southeast of Columbus where his great-grandfather, his grandfather, and his father have lived successively. He attended District 9 School in Columbus Township, and Kramer High School in Columbus, where he was graduated in the class of 1930.
Following his marriage in 1935, with the exception of a year and a half at Bellwood, Nebraska, he made his home in Columbus until 1940, when he moved his family to Omaha, where he became associated with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
He entered the service on March 31, 1944, and received his basic training at Camp Fannin, Texas. He went overseas to the European Theatre of Operations in September, 1944. Private Harold Galley was killed in action while with the First Army in Germany on November 17, 1944. He was the second Platte County man brought home for reburial. Interment was in the Columbus Cemetery. Military services were held for him at the Gass Chapel on November 12, 1947. Reverend Walter H. Jackson, pastor of the First Methodist Church, officiated at the service; and members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and the Spanish-American War Veterans took part in the military rite.
Staff Sergeant William H. Gaspers was born October 25, 1921, at Lindsay, Nebraska, and was killed in a traffic accident while on mounted police road patrol duty at Deddington, England, on September 1, 1944
He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Nick Gaspers of Lindsay, Nebraska. His mother is deceased. He had five brothers and three sisters. The brothers are: Michael, Gilbert, and Raymond Gaspers of Lindsay, Nebraska, Louis Gaspers of St. Edward, Nebraska, and Clemence Gaspers of Molin, Illinois. His sisters are Miss Anna Gaspers of Lindsay, Nebraska, Mrs. Fred Krings of Platte Center, Nebraska, and Mrs. Theodore Syslo of Colamus, Iowa.
William attended the Holy Family School in Lindsay, Nebraska, and then worked with his father on the Gaspers' farm until he enlisted in the United States Army on September 18, 1940.
He was assigned to the radio signal corps and stationed at Spokane, Washington, where he remained for six months. He was then sent to South Carolina, later going to New York where he took a six-months' course in radio. After the completion of this course, in the autumn of 1941, he was sent to Iceland, where he spent two years.
Staff Sergeant William H. Gaspers went to England in 1943, and was killed near Deddington in a traffic accident on September 1, 1944. The accident occurred while William, on mounted police motorcycle road patrol duty, collided with a British Army lorry. He was buried in the American Military Cemetery at Cambridge, England.
Memorial services were held for Staff Sergeant William H. Gaspers on October 2, 1944, in the Holy Family Church in Lindsay, Nebraska, with Right Reverend Monsignor J. L. Zaplotnik, pastor, officiating at the Requiem Mass, and the American Legion in charge of the military service.
Corporal Gerald Gehr was born in Humphrey, Nebraska, on December 6, 1918, and was killed in action during the battle on Okinawa on June 10, 1945.
He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter E. Gehr of Humphrey, Nebraska. He had two brothers and one sister. Donald Gehr, who lived in Omaha, Nebraska, also served in World War II; Marvin Gehr of Humphrey, Nebraska; and Mrs. Gene Korth of Humphrey, Nebraska.
Gerald attended St. Francis School in Humphrey, and was graduated in the class of 1937. He was then employed as a salesman by Grainger Brothers, wholesale grocers of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Gerald Gehr married Miss Catherine Van Ackeren of Humphrey, Nebraska, at Vail, Iowa, on September 16, 1941.
| Biography | 967 |
He joined the army on January 30, 1942, arid received his training at Camp Wolters, Texas, and Camp San Luis Obispo, California. Corporal Gerald Gehr went overseas with the Regimental Headquarters Company of the Thirty-second Infantry on June 20, 1943. He participated in several famous battles, including the Battle of Attu, the Battle of Kwajalein, the Battle of Leyte, and then the Battle of Okinawa, where he was killed. He was declared officially dead as of June 10, 1945. Corporal Gehr received several citations from service in the above battles, but they were lost with his other personal belongings. He was buried in the Seventh Division Cemetery on Okinawa. He received the Purple Heart posthumously.
Memorial services for Corporal Gerald Gehr were held in St. Francis Catholic Church in Humphrey, Nebraska, at 9 a.m., August 4, 1945, by Reverend Claude Rust, O.F.M., pastor, celebrant of the Requiem Mass. The Humphrey American Legion had charge of the military rite.
First Lieutenant William Bucher Gray, the son of Myron and Louise Bucher Gray, was born in Columbus, Nebraska, on September 8, 1916, and died July 17, 1942, following a forced crash landing of his plane off the African coast.
His maternal grandparents were Mr. and Mrs. William Bucher, of Columbus, and his paternal grandparents were Mr. and Mrs. Clinton C. Gray, of Omaha. His father died in Columbus on February 23, 1939.
William Gray grew up in Columbus, where he attended the Columbus schools. He was graduated from Kramer High School in the class of 1934, and the University of Nebraska School of Business Administration, where he received his Bachelor of Science degree. He was affiliated with the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity in Lincoln.
William was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Organized Reserves. Following his graduation, he served with the Infantry, at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. He was transferred to the Air Corps and was graduated from Randolph Field, Texas, in 1939, and later that same year, was graduated from an advanced course at Kelly Field, Texas.
On November 29, 1939, at the chapel at Randolph Field, Texas, Lieutenant Gray was married to Flora Albin, the daughter of Joseph and Martha Marl McCormick Albin, of Lincoln, Nebraska. Lieutenant and Mrs. Gray had one son, William, Jr.
William Jr remained in the United States Army Air Corps for three months following his graduation, during which time he served at Patterson Field, Ohio.
He then took leave from active service, retaining his reserve status, to enter commercial flying. Lieutenant Gray worked for two years as a commercial pilot for the Eastern Airlines, flying a Douglas passenger ship between New York and Jacksonville, Florida, with headquarters at Newark, New Jersey, first, and later at La Guardia Field, New York.
He was a captain with the air line company at the time he was called back to active duty on June 17, 1942, with the Army Air Corps. On his return to the Army he was placed in the Ferry Command of the United States Armed Forces, operating from Florida overseas.
Lieutenant Gray was declared missing following a forced crash landing of his plane at sea, off the African coast.
He died from accidental drowning on July 17, 1942.
First Lieutenant William Bucher Gray was the first Platte County man in the American Armed Forces to die during World War II. He was buried at sea.
Corporal Robert Greisen was born on October 8, 1922, at Humphrey, Nebraska, and was killed in action on Iwo Jima on February 26, 1945. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Hilger Greisen of St. Anthony's community in Burrows Township, near Humphrey, Nebraska, and the grandson of Henry Greisen, one of the early pioneers in the St. Anthony community.
Corporal Greisen had three brothers and four sisters, namely, Arthur, Norman, and Harry Greisen, Mrs. Adolph Liebig, Jr., Anna Marie, Geraldine, and Mary Jean Greisen.
Robert attended school at District 60 in Burrows Township. After finishing grammar school, he worked with his father on the farm until he entered the service on August 5, 1942. He served in the United States Marine Corps, where he had the rank of corporal.
In January, 1943, after sixteen months of training, he went to the South Pacific area, where he participated in the battles of Bougainville, Guam, and last at Iwo Jima, where he was killed in action on February 26, 1945.
He was buried overseas.
Memorial services for Corporal Robert H. Greisen were held at 9:00 a.m., Monday, April 2, 1945, at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Burrows Township, with Reverend Ernest Halemba officiating.
| 968 | The History of Platte County Nebraska |
Staff Sergeant Melvin Hamner was born on May 29, 1912, at Concordia, Kansas, and was killed in action at noon on December 20, 1943, while on a bombing mission over the Japanese base at Alexishofen, New Guinea.
He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Hamner of Monroe, Nebraska. Mr. Hamner died June 14, 1943. A brother, C. Lewis Hamner, lives in Los Angeles, California.
When six years of age, Melvin moved to Nebraska with his parents. He lived at Merchiston, and attended school at Fullerton in Nance County, Nebraska. He received his eighth grade diploma at Fullerton on May 28, 1926. He then moved to Grand Island with his parents. A year later, the Hamner family moved to Monroe where Melvin's father became the manager of the T. B. Hord plant. Melvin Hamner graduated at the Monroe High School with the class of 1930.
After graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army, and served three years in the coast artillery. During this time, he was stationed in the Philippine Islands. He then returned to Monroe, Nebraska, and worked for one year at the T. B. Hord Grain Company.
On October 9, 1935, at Garland, Nebraska, Melvin Hamner was married to Miss Lois Clare Watts, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Watts of Monroe, Nebraska. After their marriage, they returned to Monroe, Nebraska, where Melvin was employed for one year in the T. B. Hord Grain Company with his father.
After severing his connection with the T. B. Hord Grain Company in 1936, Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Hamner went to Montana where he was employed for six years. He first worked for a construction company, and they lived at Kalispell, Montana, where they owned their home. Following this, he was employed by the Glacier Park Hotel Company at Glacier Park, Montana.
He resigned his work in 1942, and returned to Monroe, Nebraska, for a visit; and on October 7, of that year, he joined the United States Air Force. His first flight training was at Harlingen Field, Texas, where he received his wings on December 14, 1942. He then was sent to Columbia, South Carolina, for advanced flight and gunnery training. From this base, he was assigned to a B-25 Billy Mitchell bomber as a radio top turret gunner.
Sergeant Hamner left the Pacific Coast for New Guinea on June 14, 1943. He was attached to the Thirty-eighth Bombardment Group of the Fifth Air Force, and had completed thirty-three missions over Japanese targets, and was on his thirty-fourth mission over the Japanese base at Alexishofen, New Guinea, when he met his death at noon on December 20, 1943.
Staff Sergeant Melvin Hamner, radio top turret gunner in the lead plane, at an altitude of one hundred feet, directly over the target, was engaged in bombing and strafing the target when his plane received a direct hit from the anti-aircraft batteries; and it crashed into the sea a few hundred feet from the shore, resulting in the loss of plane and crew. For his valiant service during combat, he was awarded the Air Medal, and the Silver Star for gallantry in action. These citations were presented to Mrs. Melvin Hamner on October 22, 1944, at a military ceremony held at the Santa Ana, California, Air Base. General Arthur Easterbrook presented the awards.
Memorial services were held Sunday, May 6, 1945, at 2:30 p.m. at the Evangelical Church in Monroe, Nebraska, with Reverend Benjamin Hillier officiating at the religious service, and Hartman Post No. 84 of the Columbus American Legion, in charge of the military rite. Monroe veterans also participated in the service.
First Lieutenant Charles Middleton Harrison was born at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1921, and was killed in battle near Cassino, Italy, around January 31, 1944. He was the son of Colonel and Mrs.. Edward Kendall Harrison.
Charles was a student at the John Burroughs School in St. Louis before coming to Platte County with his parents in 1934. He attended the junior High School in Columbus, and later was enrolled at Kramer High School.
He also attended the Central High School in Omaha and was graduated from the Clayton High School at Clayton, a suburb of St. Louis. He then attended Washington at St. Louis.
He returned to Omaha with his parents in 1941 when his father was assigned to duty at the Seventh Corps Area Headquarters. Charles attended the University of Omaha for a short period before enlisting as a private in the Tank Corps. He was sent to an officers training school where he was commissioned a second lieutenant, and then received intensive training with the Tank Corps at Indio, California. He went overseas in 1943 and following a long period of war service in the North African campaign, including the Battle of Tunis, was killed in battle during fierce fighting near Cassino, Italy, around January 31, 1944, while on special official duty there.
He was buried at a cemetery nearby and six months later when his grave was located, was officially reported dead. He was one of a large group of war dead for whom a memorial service was held at the Joslyn Memorial in Omaha in the Spring of 1945.
Private First Class Cecil Hickey was born on a farm near Genoa, Nebraska, on September 29, 1918, and died November 25, 1943, at the Army Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska. His death was the result of injuries received while on active duty in the Aleutian Islands.
| Biography | 969 |
Cecil Hickey was the son of Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Hickey of Columbus. He had two brothers, both of whom served in World War II, Richard, a technical sergeant, and Wallace Hickey, and two sisters, Mrs. Elmer Johnson and Mrs. Herbert Behlen.
Cecil attended the Genoa schools, and graduated from the Genoa High School in 1937. He entered the army in February, 1941. Following his training, he served in the Aleutian Islands for ten months, and was injured on active duty while loading supplies there.
After returning to the United States in June, 1943, Private First Class Cecil Hickey was hospitalized in an army hospital in Texas for two months, and then came to Columbus in August, 1943. He entered the Lincoln Hospital in November, 1943, and died there on November 25, 1943.
He was buried at Genoa, Nebraska, where military funeral services were held for him on Sunday, November 28, 1943, at the Genoa Methodist Church, with Reverend T. W. Shepard, the pastor, officiating. The Genoa American Legion took part in the military rite.
Corporal William D. Howell was born in Columbus, Nebraska, on July 28, 1922, and was killed in a plane crash near Buckingham Field at Fort Myers, Florida, on May 20, 1943.
Corporal Howell was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Zack T. Howell of Columbus, Nebraska. He had three brothers and one sister, namely, Zack B. Howell of Columbus, Nebraska; Herbert Howell of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Paul Howell of Long Beach, California; and Elizabeth, Mrs. Theodore Lund, of Columbus, Nebraska.
On January 12, 1943, he was married to Miss Phyllis Nelson in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joe C. Nelson of Columbus.
William attended the Columbus grade schools and the Kramer High School, where he was graduated in the class of 1940. He was a member of the Kramer High School first team basketball squad during both his junior and Senior years, and was the leading scorer in his Senior year with ninety-four points. He was active in softball, playing two seasons in the Commercial League. He worked at Swift and Company until he enlisted in the Army Air Corps where he was a member of the ground crew.
William received his first training at Chicago, where he attended a radio school. At the completion of this course, he was sent to Fort Myers, Florida, for a six weeks' gunnery training course. Corporal William D. Howell was killed in a plane crash on May 20, 1943, near Buckingham Field, Fort Myers, Florida, while returning from a routine flight over the Gulf of Mexico. He was the first known Columbus casualty among enlisted men.
Military funeral services were conducted for Corporal William D. Howell at the Methodist Church on May 26, 1943, with Reverend Walter H. Jackson, pastor, officiating. Hartman Post No. 84 of the American Legion, participated in the military rite at the church and the Columbus Cemetery, where interment was made in the American Legion Memorial Block.
Private First Class Edward Jaspers was born in St. Bernard Township, north of Cornlea, Nebraska, on March 18, 1916, and died from injuries received in a vehicle accident in Germany on July 4, 1945.
He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Jaspers of Cornlea, Nebraska, and one of a family of nine. His brothers are Alfred and Elmer Jaspers of Cornlea, Nebraska; and Andrew Jaspers, who was in service in Germany during World War II. His sisters are Mrs. Maurice Long, Madison, Nebraska; Mrs. Evelyn Weidner of Cornlea, Nebraska; Miss Gertrude Jaspers in Illinois; and Miss Ermaline and Miss Louise at home.
Edward received his formal education at the St. Bernard Parochial School in St. Bernard Township. After finishing school, he followed the profession of a farmer until he entered military service.
On May 6, 1941, Edward Jaspers was married to Miss Marcella Hittner in the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Cornlea, Nebraska.
In March, 1942, he joined the United States Army and received his basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas, and also received training at other camps. He was assigned to the Nine Hundred Forty-second Artillery, and went overseas with this battalion to the European Theatre of Operations. He landed at La Havre, France. He fought through the campaigns in Holland, Belgium, and Germany without the slightest injury. Then he was injured in a vehicle accident that caused his death on July 4, 1945, in Germany.
Memorial services were held for him on Tuesday morning, July 24, 1945, at the Sacred Heart Church in Cornlea, Nebraska, with Reverend Jarleth Sobczyk, O.F.M., pastor, celebrant at the Requiem Mass, and Foltz-Zuerlein Post, No. 80, of the American Legion of Humphrey, conducting the military service.
Following the Requiem Mass, Father Jarleth spoke briefly to the congregation. In his talk, he mentioned Private First Class Jaspers' letters home in which he asserted his devotion to prayer.
| 970 | The History of Platte County Nebraska |
Private First Class John J. Jasper, a native of Platte County, died on Luzon, February 5, 1945, as a result of wounds suffered in action.
He was a brother to Mrs. Thomas Pensick of Columbus. And before entering the service of his country was employed by the Union Pacific Railroad as a railroad machinist.
He enlisted in the United States Armed Forces on January 25, 1941, and after receiving his basic training was stationed at army camps in the United States until he went overseas in July of 1943. Following that he was stationed at army posts in the Pacific area in Hawaii, New Guinea, and Australia.
Private First Class John J. Jasper arrived in the Philippine Islands on January 27, 1945, and on February 5, 1945, died from wounds received in battle on Luzon.
On March 14, 1945, Memorial Services were held for him at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Columbus. Reverend Stanley Jaworski, O.F.M., officiated at the Requiem Mass, and Hartman Post Number 84 of the American Legion had charge of the Military Services. His body was later interred here.
Master Sergeant Arthur B. Jenny was born on January 23, 1916, in Columbus, Nebraska. He was wounded in action in the Aleutian Islands in the fall of 1943, and died on February 13, 1944, at the Clovis Army Air Base, near Clovis, New Mexico.
He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernst Jenny of Oconee Township, near Monroe, Nebraska. He had two brothers, Albert and Max of Platte County, and two sisters, Mrs. Lindo Kinzli of Route No. 2, Columbus, and Charlotte Jenny, who served as a sergeant in the W.A.C. during World War II.
Mr. and Mrs. Ernst Jenny and their older children emigrated from Switzerland, and with the exception of two years spent on a farm near Seward, Nebraska, have since resided in Platte County.
As a boy and young man, Arthur lived with his parents on a farm in Columbus Township, south of Columbus. He attended the Columbus grade schools and Kramer High School, and the Seward High School at Seward, Nebraska.
Sergeant Jenny enlisted in the regular United States Army in 1937. In the fall of 1943, while stationed in the Aleutian Islands, he was wounded in action. He returned to the United States in October, 1943, and died February 13, 1944, at the Clovis Air Base, near Clovis, New Mexico.
Interment was at Columbus, Nebraska, in February, 1944, where military funeral services were conducted by the Hartman Post No. 84 American Legion, with Reverend M. L. Seybold, chaplain, officiating. Master Sergeant Arthur Jenny was a member of the Evangelical Protestant Church in Columbus.
Second Lieutenant George A. Justesen, Jr., was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, November 2, 1920, and was killed in a plane crash in India on September 24, 1944.
He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. George A. Justesen, formerly of Columbus, Nebraska. He had one sister, Lorraine Justesen of North Hollywood, California. His father died June 13, 1947.
George attended the Columbus schools and was graduated from Kramer High School in the class of 1938. Prior to his enlistment in the Army Air Corps, he was employed by the Union Pacific Railroad in Omaha, Nebraska.
He entered the service in April, 1942, and graduated from the advanced training school in Eagle Pass, Texas, in May, 1943. Upon the completion of his advanced flight training, he received his wings and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He went overseas to the Pacific area in January, 1944, and was stationed with the 1330th Base Unit of the Air Transport Command in India. He was first pilot of a C-47 plane flying the Hump from India to China.
Second Lieutenant George A. Justesen was killed in a plane crash in India on September 24, 1944. The Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with one oak leaf cluster were awarded to him posthumously.
He was a member of the Presbyterian Church.
First Lieutenant Emmett J. Kelly was born in Humphrey, Nebraska, on August 24, 1923, and lost his life on an authorized dive bombing mission when his plane went down in the Adriatic Sea fifteen miles off the coast of Italy on May 1, 1945.
He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick L. Kelly of Humphrey, Nebraska, and one of a family of three children. His sisters are Misses Adele and Mary Jean Kelly. Adele was a secretary in Omaha, Nebraska, and Mary Jean was enrolled at the St. Francis High School in Humphrey, Nebraska.
Emmett was graduated from St. Francis High School in Humphrey, Nebraska, in 1941, and attended Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, for one and one-half years before he enlisted in the Army Air Corps on September 15, 1942.
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