Paul Jacob Ebert was born on 19 August 1912, in Marion,Ohio. His parents are Jacob & Alma B. (Ploch) Ebert. He had a brother, Robert J. Ebert and a sister Evaninne “Eva” (Ebert) Scheitler. His sister Eva would loose her husband, Charles S. Scheitler, who died while in service.
Paul J. Ebert attended Harding High School and was a 1930 graduate. While at Harding, he was involved with the Hi-Y Club, Industrial Research and Vocational Club. He was also active in the Salem Evangelical Church. Here he served as president of the church board and Superintendent of Sunday School. In the community he was active in the community serving as an instructor of the Torchbearers and President of the City Young People’s League. Ebert was an employed as an inspector at Universal Cooler Corporation.
Paul J. Ebert entered service 24 March 1942, art Fort Hayes, Columbus, Ohio. Ebert trained at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana; Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He attained the rank of Staff Sergeant (SSgt.). He served in served in Ireland and England. SSgt. Ebert was a veteran of North Africa, invasion of Sicily, Italy, and Salerno, and the invasion of Normandy. He was injured in Normandy and sent back to England, for treatment of a shrapnel wound to the leg.
SSgt. Paul J. Ebert returned to duty and was serving with Company B, First Battalion, 325th Glider Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division “All American.” SSgt. Ebert was killed in action, on 27 September 1944, in the Netherlands. SSgt. Ebert is buried Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten, Eijsden-Margraten Municipality, Limburg, Netherlands.
Among his awards were the Silver Star and Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster.
Paul J. Ebert is remembered on the Honor Roll, at the Veterans Memorial Park, in Marion, Ohio; on the west wall of the Marion County Courthouse; and on the World War Two Memorial Wall, at the Marion Cemetery. His name also appears on the Honor Roll for the Universal Cooler Corporation.
Alfred Alonzo Mann was born on 3 March 1905, in Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio. His parents are John H. & Murzy A. (Vanscoy) Mann. His family was living in Marion as of the 1930 Federal Census. His father was a veteran of the War with Spain. He had a brother, serving in the Navy, S1C Howard Q. Mann. Howard was later killed in action.
Alfred A. Mann had been employed with John Baldaulf and Sons, prior to his enlistment into the United States Navy. Alfred was serving as a Seaman Second Class (S2C) at the time of his death. It appears he may have been assigned to the USS Nautilus (SS-168) (V-6), a Narwhal class submarine. S2C Mann was found dead on an eastbound Union Pacific train, in Rock Springs, Wyoming, on 16 December 1942.
His death was attributed from wounds received while on submarine duty, while in the Pacific. He was on his way home for the Christmas Holidays.
S2C Alfred A. Mann is buried Chapel Heights Memory Gardens, Marion County, Ohio. Alfred A. Mann is remembered on the Honor Roll, at the Veterans Memorial Park, in Marion, Ohio; on the west wall of the Marion County Courthouse; and on the World War Two Memorial Wall, at the Marion Cemetery.
Harry Gilbert Kern, Jr. was born on 6 September 1906, in Deunquat, Wyandot County, Ohio. His parents are Harry G., Sr. & Kallie (Leiby) Kern. Harry Jr. married Naomi A. (Stough), on 27 September 1928, in Bucyrus, Ohio. It appears that Naomi died and Harry later married Virginia M. (Applegate), on 7 July 1943, in Defiance, Ohio. Harry had been employed with the Cady Wholesale Grocery, located at the corner of Blaine Ave. and West Center St. It appears Harry had a son, William Kern.
Harry G. Gilbert was living in Marion, Ohio, at the time of his enlistment. Harry G. Kern attained the rank of Seaman First Class (S1C). He was assigned to the U. S. S. Indianapolis (CA-35).
S1C Harry G. Kern was aboard the USS Indianapolis (CA-35), when it was returning from a Top Secret Mission.
USS INDIANAPOLIS Secret Mission After major repairs and an overhaul, Indianapolis received orders to undertake a top-secret mission of the utmost significance to national security: to proceed to Tinian island carrying the enriched uranium (about half of the world’s supply of uranium-235 at the time) and other parts required for the assembly of the atomic bomb codenamed “Little Boy”, which would be dropped on Hiroshima a few weeks later.
Indianapolis departed San Francisco’s Hunters Point Naval Shipyard on 16 July 1945, within hours of the Trinity test. She set a speed record of 74+1/2 hours from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor, an average speed of 29 kn (54 km/h; 33 mph). Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 19 July,[19] she raced on unaccompanied, delivering the atomic bomb components to Tinian on 26 July.
Indianapolis was then sent to Guam, where a number of the crew who had completed their tours of duty were relieved by other sailors. Leaving Guam on 28 July, she began sailing toward Leyte, where her crew was to receive training before continuing on to Okinawa to join Vice Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf’s Task Force 95.
Indianapolis’s intended route from Guam to the Philippines At 00:15 on 30 July, Indianapolis was struck on her starboard side by two Type 95 torpedoes, one in the bow and one amidships, from the Japanese submarine I-58, captained by Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto, who initially thought he had spotted the New Mexico-class battleship Idaho. The explosions caused massive damage. Indianapolis took on a heavy list (the ship had had a great deal of armament and gun-firing directors added as the war went on, and was therefore top-heavy) and settled by the bow. Twelve minutes later, she rolled completely over, then her stern rose into the air and she sank. Some 300 of the 1,195 crewmen aboard went down with the ship. With few lifeboats and many without life jackets, the remainder of the crew was set adrift.
Rescue Navy command did not know of the ship’s sinking until survivors were spotted in the open ocean three and a half days later. At 10:25 on 2 August, a PV-1 Ventura flown by Lieutenant Wilbur “Chuck” Gwinn and his copilot, Lieutenant Warren Colwell, and a PBY 2 piloted by Bill Kitchen spotted the men adrift while on a routine patrol flight. Gwinn immediately dropped a life raft and radio transmitter. All air and surface units capable of rescue operations were dispatched to the scene at once.
First to arrive was an amphibious PBY-5A Catalina patrol plane flown by Lieutenant Commander (USN) Robert Adrian Marks. Marks and his flight crew spotted the survivors and dropped life rafts; one raft was destroyed by the drop while others were too far away from the exhausted crew. Against standing orders not to land in open ocean, Marks took a vote of his crew and decided to land the aircraft in twelve-foot (3.7 m) swells. He was able to maneuver his craft to pick up 56 survivors. Space in the plane was limited, so Marks had men lashed to the wing with parachute cord. His actions rendered the aircraft unflyable. After nightfall, the destroyer escort USS Cecil J. Doyle, the first of seven rescue ships, used its search light as a beacon and instilled hope in those still in the water. Cecil J. Doyle and six other ships picked up the remaining survivors. After the rescue, Marks’ plane was sunk by Cecil J. Doyle as it could not be recovered.
Many of the survivors were injured, and all suffered from lack of food and water (leading to dehydration and hypernatremia; some found rations, such as Spam and crackers, among the debris of the Indianapolis), exposure to the elements (dehydration from the hot sun during the day and hypothermia at night, as well as severe desquamation due to continued exposure to salt water and bunker oil), and shark attacks, while some killed themselves or other survivors in various states of delirium and hallucinations. Only 316 of the nearly 900 men set adrift after the sinking survived.
From USS Indianapolis National Memorial
The USS Indianapolis National Memorial, Whitewater State Park, Indianapolis, Indiana
Among those who perished from the sinking of the Indianapolis, was S1C Harry G. Kern. The remains of S1C Kern were not recovered.
Harry G. Kern, Jr. is remembered on the Honor Roll, at the Veterans Memorial Park, in Marion, Ohio; on the west wall of the Marion County Courthouse; and on the World War Two Memorial Wall, at the Marion Cemetery.
Charles Samuel Scheitler was born on 11 September 1911, in Marion, Ohio. His parents are Charles T. & Vinnie (Blair) Scheitler. Charles was married to Evaninne (Ebert). His wife was a sister to Paul J. Ebert, who was killed in action, on 27 Sep 1944, in the Netherlands.
Charles S. Scheitler was employed with Marion Steam Shovel Company prior to entering service. He entered service on 17 December 1942, in Columbus, Ohio.
Charles S. Scheitler was stationed at Camp Hood, Texas. He became ill in October of 1943, and was discharged from service for a preexisting condition. Charles returned to Marion, Ohio, and continued his employment at the Marion Steam Shovel Company.
Charles died on 19 April 1945, at White Cross Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He is buried in the Marion Cemetery.
Charles S. Scheilter is remembered for his service on the Honor Roll, at the Veterans Memorial Park, in Marion, Ohio; and on the World War Two Memorial Wall, at the Marion Cemetery.
Robert Frederick McCarty was born on 5 June 1917, in Orange, New Jersey. His parents are Frederick L. & Florence (Sjostrom) McCarty. They both preceded him in death. He had a brother, Lt. Richard D. McCarty, also serving. Robert F. McCarty attended Williams College and the University of Virginia. He was a member of the Delta Psi fraternity. Robert came to Marion, Ohio and was employed in the purchasing department, at Marion Steam Shovel Company prior to entering service.
Robert F. McCarty entered service in January of 1942. He attended basic training at Cal Aero Field, Ontario, California. Robert was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and married, Jean (Knapp), on 23 July 1942, at Williams Field, Chandler, Arizona. Jean is a native of Marion Ohio. After commissioning he was sent to Greenville, South Carolina to the Army Air Field. There he served as a B-25 instructor. He was also stationed at Pocatello, Idaho, where he served as a four-engine bomber operations officer and in 1943, at Lockbourne Air Base, Columbus, Ohio as a B-17 instructor.
Captain Robert F. McCarty went overseas in February 1944. He served on the Italian front since 20 April 1944. He flew missions in Africa and the Italian theater.
Cpt. Robert F. McCarty remains were recovered and five others were reinterred together at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri.
Cpt. Robert F. McCarty was flying as co-pilot aboard a B-24 Liberator (# 41-29382), named the “Lucky Lady.” He was assigned to the 777th Bomb Squadron, 464th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force. While on a mission on 25 May 1944, McCarty and crew departed Gioia Air Base, Italy. At about 14:00, while over Givors, France, the formation of bombers began receiving enemy antiaircraft fire. The Lucky Lady sustained damage to the nose section and #2 engine, which caught fire. The damage forced the Lucky Lady to leave the formation. The bomb bay section of the aircraft was then seen to catch fire. Three parachutes were seen from men leaving the aircraft, one parachute was on fire. The Lucky Lady then went into a dive and was lost from sight. The bodies of six men were discovered by Joseph Laugier in a forest near L’Esterl. He said the bodies were charred and in the wreckage of the aircraft. The identification tags of Robert F. McCarty and John E. Beck were recovered before the bodies were buried nearby. The bodies of two others were recovered about 400 yards away. Two other members of the crew were unaccounted for. Lt. William O. Trotter, the pilot was captured and later died of wounds, in a German hospital.
Memorial at Jefferson Barracks, MO
Jean (Knapp) McCarty attended a ceremony two days after being notified of her husbands confirmed death. At this ceremony, she received her husbands Air Medal. Also among the attendees were Major C. A. Hudson, former superintendent of the Marion schools and his wife. Mrs. Jean McCarty then went on the serve Red Cross rehabilitation program, as a recreational worker in the hospital. She was assigned to the American University, in Alexandria, Virginia, working at Hurst Hall.
There is also a memorial in Saint Raphael, France. The names of the whole crew are listed on the memorial.
Robert F. McCarty is remembered on the Honor Roll, at the Veterans Memorial Park, in Marion, Ohio; on the west wall of the Marion County Courthouse; and on the World War II Veterans Memorial Wall, at the Marion Cemetery.
Honoring Marion Ohio Veterans 