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From:
Subject: Donald Stehman of Noblesville Indiana killed in World War II
Date: 16 Feb 2006 22:26:53 -0700

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.

Surnames: Stehman
Classification: Query

Message Board URL:

http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Xh.2ADI/1680

Message Board Post:

Donald Stehman of Noblesville, Indiana was killed February 14, 1944, while serving in the South Pacific during World War II.

He is officially listed as missing or buried at sea and his name appears on the “Tablets of the Missing” at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines. We are seeking information regarding his military and civilian life and especially locate any family members still living so we can send them the free photographs of his grave site and the beautiful memorial in the Philippines.

We have found the following reference at the Indiana State Library website; World War II database. We do not have the information because we do not have access to the microfilms here in the Philippines but we are hoping for some help from our posting. Our goal is to find the families of Indiana servicemen and present them with free photographs of their loved one’s grave sites or their names as they appear on the “Tablets”. This information will increase our chances of finding the families. Please help us!

Donald Stehman
Machinist’s Mate Third Class
United States Navy
Noblesville - Hamilton County – Indiana
Service Number 8636021
Served and was KIA on USS St. Louis (CL-49)
DOD - February 14, 1944
Missing in action or buried at sea


References:
Indianapolis News
February 22, 1944
Missing in Action
Part 1, Page 5, Column 2



Wife: Ms. Rosetta T. Stehman, 1563 Wayne St., Noblesville, Indiana


USS St. Louis
http://www.probsolve.com/ussstlouis/

In fact, it wasn’t until St. Valentines Day, 1944 that the USS St. Louis suffered her first combat fatalities. Her assignment was to screen American landings on Green Island north of Bougainville, and she lay off the island most of the day without incident.
About sundown, however, six enemy planes—first noticed circling above the horizon at 5 pm—came in to make their runs over the screening force. Two went after the St. Louis; one dropped a bomb off the starboard bow for a damaging near miss, the other scoring a direct hit just aft of the superstructure killing 23 men.


I am a retired Hoosier from Madison County Indiana residing in the Philippines with my Filipino wife. We are seeking family and military information of nearly a thousand servicemen from Indiana killed in the South Pacific during World War II. There are 17,206 Americans buried here and thousands more that are missing or buried at sea and are honored on the “Tablets of the Missing”. Please visit our website to see the beautiful memorial located in Manila, Philippines.

http://fizkid.tripod.com/

My wife and I visited the cemetery as visitors and left with a mission in our heart. We have been taking photographs of the graves of the Indiana servicemen buried here and have been uniting them (at no charge) with their family members in Indiana and across the United States. To receive the photo of your family member, neighbor or friend all you need is a working email address. We do not send them to regular mailing addresses due to the costs. Please help us find the families of the men that might still be living. Our project is only successful because of teamwork and your contributions are noted on our website. If you wish to help us we will be pleased to add your name to our ACKNOWLEDGMENT page on the website. The obituaries usually did not appear till to three months after the death date.

If you are not a genealogist you can help by just picking up the telephone directory and find someone with the same last name and give them a call. It has worked many times for us.



Sincerely,

Dave and Apple Dwiggins
San Pablo City, Philippines

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