General

World War Two Artifact Found – Linked to Marion Veteran

marionohioveterans2 Comments

I was contacted by Markus Tamas. He was inquiring about a World War Two veteran, who was killed in action at the Battle of the Bulge. Mr. Tamas is a relic hunter who lives in the Netherlands. While searching an old dump site near Nothum, he had uncovered a world war two era helmet liner and other artifacts. Based of the marking on the helmet, he would begin to research the events, military units and personnel from this area. He believes that the helmet belonged to Lt. George F. Pennington. Pennington had been assigned to the Company E, 101st Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division “the Yankee Division.” In 1944, Lt. Pennington had made a heroic stand against German force attacking his position. Lt. Pennington was killed in this action on 28 December 1944.

I had written a brief article about Lt. Pennington and his late son, Clinton G. Pennington. At the time of researching for the articles, I was unable to locate descendants of Lt. Pennington. After Mr. Tamas contacted me asking for assistance in locating family, I was eventually able to get him in contact with Lt. Pennington’s grandson.

From Markus Tamas
Helmet Liner-Front

Hemet Liner-Rear

A1C George W. Hart – Killed in Service, 1955

marionohioveteransLeave a comment

George William Hart was born on 12 August 1932, in Quincy, Massachusetts. His parents are Robert H. & Gertrude (Harrington) Hart. George W. Hart had once lived in Caledonia before he came to Marion. Hart had worked as a carrier for the Marion Star for seven years. He resided here for sixteen years and was a graduate of Harding High School. Hart had been an employee at the Marion Engineering Depot prior to entering service.
George W. Hart entered service with the United States Air Force and completed basic training at Sampson Air Force Base. He would then be stationed for three years at Biloxi, Mississippi. He was stationed in Alaska for about one year prior to his death.

George W. Hart married Bonnie Jean (Pelk) of Marion, Ohio. They were wed on 22 February 1951, in Richmond , Indiana. Together they had two children, William Dewey Hart and Patricia Lynette Hart.
George W. Hart was serving in the U.S. Air Force in 1955 when he was killed in an aircraft crash. Hart was serving as an Airman First Class (A1C) aboard an C-47A (#43-15594), coming from Kodiak Naval Air Station, Alaska. Hart was serving with the 5039th Air Transport Squadron, Elmendorf Air Force Base. The aircraft was a cargo plane carrying barrels of fuel to drop at a military outpost in Sitkinak, Alaska. As the aircraft was circling to locate the drop location, they experience a downdraft. The aircraft was forced down into the mountaintop killing all aboard. The crash occurred on 12 June 1955. Reports of the crews that located the crash site noted the debris was covered in oil from the barrels, but had not ignited. There were six crewmen and four civilians aboard and all were killed.
A1C George W. Hart is buried in Chapel Heights Memory Gardens, Marion, Ohio.

Ten men in total gave their lives that day, seven military and three civilians.

The military men were:
Capt. Sumner M. Alpert,
Second Lt. Tullie Warren Moore,
Pfc. Thomas M. Gravel,
A2C Harold D. Bohm,
SFC John Murl Claxton,
A1C George William Hart, and
Cpl. Richard Langdon.

The civilians were employees of Western Electric Company:
Louis Julius Houck,
Kurt Alfred Hentschke, Sr. and
John Joseph Dupre.

USS Marion County

marionohioveteransLeave a comment
USS Marion County (LST-975)

USS Marion County (LST-975) was an LST-542-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy. Like many of her class, she was not named on her haul, but was referred to by her hull designation (LST-975 in this case). The LST-975 was commissioned on 3 February 1945. She operated during World War Two in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. In July of 1955, she was named after counties in seventeen states, that bore the county name of “Marion.” She was the only U. S. Naval vessel to bear the name.
The LST-975 would earn six battle stars during the Korean War.
The LST-975 would see service during the Vietnam War under the Republic of Vietnam as HQ-500. The United States Navy would remove her from the list of ships on 1 June 1963.

Operating for the Republic of Vietnam as HQ-500

Click here for more information on LST-975.

Spanish American War Honor Roll – Guánica, Peurto Rico

marionohioveterans4 Comments

This monument is the only known memorial bearing the names of the four Marion, Ohio, veterans who died in service to their country during the Spanish American War, aka The War with Spain. This monument was erected by the Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry Association in 1923.

For more info on the four Marion veterans, see the Honor Roll at the top of the page.