PFC Joseph P. Galati Killed in Action, 1944

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Joseph Phillip Galati was born on 15 August 1924, in Marion, Ohio. His parents are Charles Galati & Rose Bonham. Charles Galati immigrated from Italy. Joseph P. Galati attended school at Edison Junior High. Joseph was employed at American Malleable Casting Company, prior to his entering service. Joseph married Juanita (Conn) on 26 January 1943, in Marion, Ohio.

Joseph P. Galati entered service on 22 March 1943, at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. Joseph attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He attained the rank of Private First Class (PFC). PFC Galati was sent over seas on 21 March 1944, where he served with the 175th Infantry, 29th Infantry Division “Blue and Gray Division.” PFC Galati was first wounded during the Battle for Saint-Lô in Normandy, on 25 June 1944. Records indicate that he was treated for shrapnel wounds to his elbow and posterior thorax. He was treated in a hospital in England for about a month.

PFC Joseph P. Galati returned to combat and in less than a month was again injured. He was injured on 27 August 1944, near Le Cloitre, Plouzané during the Battle for Brest, France. His injuries were again from artillery shell fragments. This time his injuries were to the thorax and abdomen. His injuries were fatal and he died on 9 September 1944, less than two weeks after being injured. He died in France.
PFC Joseph P. Galati was first buried in Europe. In 1948, his remains were disinterred and returned to Marion, Ohio, for final rest. His remains were returned in December of 1948, aboard the U. S. A. T. Lieutenant James E. Robinson. PFC Joseph P. Galati is buried in the Marion Cemetery.

Joseph P. Galati 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.

Lt. Jess A. Quigley Killed in Action, 1944

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Jess A. Quigley was born on 18 May 1924, in Shippensburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. His parents are John M. & Lillian B. Quigley. Jess had a brother serving in the Army Air Corps, Donald Quigley. Jess A. Quigley attended Harding High School and was a graduate with the Class of 1942. Jess was employed with the Dushan Coal Company, Osceola Mills, Clearfield, Pennsylvania.
Jess A. Quigley entered service on 15 February 1943. He took training at San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center, Texas. He was sent overseas for duty as a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot. He was a Second Lieutenant serving in the 307th Squadron, 31st Fighter Group. He was stationed in St. Polten, Austria.
While on a mission over the airdrome at Prostejov-Kostelec, Czechoslovakia, Lt. Quigley was shot down. It was witnessed on 25 August 1944, that his parachute opened and he landed in some tree tops. His mother was notified that he was Missing in Action (MIA).

On 25 August 1944, I was leading an element of red flight in my Squadron on a bomber escort mission to Prostejov, Czechoslovakia with Lt Quigley as my wingman. At 1120 hours, Lt Quigley first reported that his engine was heating up, so I went down to 7,000 feet with him and his engine cooled off. Later Lt Quigley´s engine heated up again and glycol streamed from his plane. At 1255 hours he was forced to bail out from 3,000 feet, and although his chute streamed out behind him, it did not open up. I circled at 5,000 feet and saw Lt Quigley fall into a group of trees, but did not see him again.

Statement from Captain George T. Buck Jr., Air Corps.

His mother had also been notified that another son, Major Don Quigley, was MIA in the Pacific Theater. It was not until 12 August 1945, that his mother was notified that her son, Lt. Jess A. Quigley, was officially declared dead.
Lt. Quigley was first buried in St. Leonard Am Forst, Austria. In 1948, his family was notified that Lt. Jess A. Quigley was reinterred at the U. S. Military Cemetery in Neuville-en-Condroz, nine miles south-west of Liege, Belgium.
Lt. Jess A. Quigley 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.

Dr. N. Faye Tilton, Dies in Service, 1917

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Nehemiah Faye Tilton was born on 15 May 1873, in York Center, Ohio. His parents are John F. & Minnie (Webster) Tilton of Union County. Nehemiah Faye Tilton went by N. Faye Tilton. N. Faye attended Pharmacy School in Ada, Ohio, at the Ohio Northern University. He then attended Ohio University for a year. He later studied medicine, graduating from the Ohio Medical University in Columbus, Ohio. He was a graduate in 1901. Dr. N. Faye Tilton married Loretta D. (Ramage) of Delaware, Ohio. Together they had two daughters, who died in infancy. Loretta was a teacher at Harding High School.

Dr. N. Faye Tilton served in the Medical Reserve Corps., during World War One. He mainly was involved with examining men for their physical qualifications for military service. He maintained a practice in Marion, Ohio.

He was returning to Marion, Ohio, with Dr. James W. McMurray, when the two were involved in an automobile accident. The vehicle the doctors were traveling in, was struck by a motorcycle. The motorcycle had lost it’s brakes. The accident occurred in Powell, Ohio, and the two doctors assisted in treating the rider of the motorcycle, who had suffered a compound fracture of his right leg. Dr. Tilton was very upset at the thought of the injured man, who might be crippled. This stress is thought to have caused the doctor’s health to suffer. He had already suffered from nephritis and subsequently died of it’s complications.
Dr. N. Faye Tilton died on 22 August 1917. He is buried in the family plot at York Cemetery, York Center, Ohio. N. Faye Tilton is remembered on the Honor Roll, at the Veterans Memorial Park, Marion, Ohio; and on the World War One Honor Roll, located on the second floor of the Marion County Courthouse.

BM2C Charles W. Williams, Jr. – MIA, 1942

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Charles Wilbur Williams, Jr. was born 11 July 1913, in Columbus, Ohio. His parents are Charles W., Sr. & Mattie May Williams. Charles W. Williams, Jr. has two brothers in service; Staff Sergeant Willard W. Williams, of the 1924th Aviation Engineer Battalion, stationed at Okinawa and John Franklin Williams, recently discharged from the Navy. Charles Jr. attended Harding High School and graduated with the Class of 1932. He was a football letterman while he attended the school. He married Bernice (Sekinger) on 14 February 1938, in Marion, Ohio.

In 1935, Charles W. Williams, Jr. enlisted into the United States Coast Guard. During that three year service, he saw service during the Ohio River Flood of 1936. At the completion of this term of service he was employed with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Wilmington Post. He later reenlisted with the Coast Guard and was stationed at St. Maris, Michigan, and Loraine, Ohio. He also served duty in the North Atlantic, then was transferred to the South Pacific.

He served as a Boatswain’s Mate Second Class (BM2C) and was assigned to the USS Libra (AK-53). He was with the Libra when it served in the invasion and defense of Guadalcanal. BM2C Charles W. Williams, Jr. was declared Missing in Action (MIA), near Lunga, Guadalcanal, on 19 August 1942. It was more than three years before he was officially declared dead. The remains of BM2C Charles W. Williams, Jr. were not recovered.

BM2C Charles W. Williams, Jr. is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines.
Charles W. Williams, 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 II Veterans Memorial Wall, at the Marion Cemetery.

Lt. James R. West Died in Service, 1943

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James Roland West was born on 7 September 1920, in Akron, Ohio. His parents are Roland J. & Jane M. (Moneypenney) West of Ithaca, New York. Prior to enlistment James R. West had been employed at Morse Chain Company, Ithaca, New York. He attended Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio and was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He married Dorothea “Pat” (Tway) in Marion, Ohio, on 20 July 1942. Her parents were living in Marion, Ohio.

James R. West enlisted in the Army Air Corps in January of 1942. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and received his wings at McAllen Field, Texas on 24 May 1942.

He was stationed at an army airfield in Florida and was then transferred to the army base at Walla Walla Air Base, Washington. Lt. James R. West was assigned to a B-17 “Flying Fortress” #42-3503. He was part of the 88th Bombardment Group, 399th Bomber Squadron. The 88th BG was a unit dedicated to training B-17 crews. On 10 August 1943, while on a routine flight, his ship crashed over Oregon. The bomber went down near Heppner, Oregon. 8 other crew members died in the crash.

Lt. James R. West is buried East Lawn Cemetery, Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York.
James R. West 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.