2nd Lt. John S. Houghton – World War Two POW/Casualty

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HoughtonJohn Snyder Houghton was born in Wooster, Ohio, 10 July 1919. Houghton was the son of Ellis M. Houghton and Harriett Houghton of Marion, Ohio. John also had a sister, Mary Anne Houghton and a brother, James L. Houghton. John S. Houghton graduated from Harding High School with the Class of 1937. Houghton went on to Fenn college in Cleveland, Ohio, as an engineering student. Houghton was president of the Kappa Theta Tau fraternity.
James S. Houghton went into service in the Army Air Corps on 24 August 1942. He enlisted in Cleveland, Ohio, as a private. Houghton would be selected to be an aviation cadet. He attended the aviation cadet program in Boca Raton, Florida, where he would be commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He would then be sent to Flight Engineer School at Lowry Field near Denver, Colorado, where he would graduate with Class #25-44. Houghton would continue training with an assignment to the 17th Bombardment Operational Training Wing at Clovis Army Air Base, New Mexico.
HoughtonCrewIn January of 1945, 2nd Lt. John S. Houghton would be assigned to the 20th Air Force, XXI Bomber Command, 73rd Bomb Wing, 498th Bombardment Group – VH (Very Heavy), 874th Bomb Squadron stationed at Isely Field on Saipan in the Mariana Islands. He was on the crew of a B-24 Super Fortress named Filthy Fay II (#42-93999).
While on a bombing mission on the night of 1-2 April 1945, the Filthy Fay II and 120 other aircraft were to bomb the Musashino Engine Works of the Nakajima Aircraft Company near Tokyo, Japan. While making the bombing run the Filthy Fay II took a flak hit through it’s open bomb bay doors. This set the Filthy Fay II on fire. Only seven of eleven crew members were able to parachute from the aircraft. The bomber exploded on impact with Atago Mountain near Yoshino Village in the Nishitama District of Tokyo.
Lt. Houghton sustained serious third degree burns while exiting the aircraft. The crash occurred on 2 April 1945, and Houghton was taken prisoner. He was taken to Kempie Tai (secret police) headquarters and placed in a cell in the basement. He was a POW when on 9 April 1945, he was taken to a hospital. His death was reported to be 11 April 1945. It would be later reported that Lt. Houghton was injected with poison, to put him out of his misery. Houghton had completed 16 missions prior to his B24 being shot down.
Four of the surviving crew were able to contact Houghton’s family after the Japanese surrender. Later a former Japanese secret police chief was charged with war crimes. Keijiro Otani was charged based on “evidence that clearly showed that an Ohio youth was poisoned and another died from lack of medical care.” It is said that Houghton was poisoned because his condition was deemed “hopeless.”
Memoriom2nd Lt. John S. Houghton is buried at Marion Cemetery in Marion, Ohio.
2nd Lt. John S. Houghton 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.

“Filthy Fay II” Crew Members Disposition:
5 KIA:
1st Lt. Carl G. Smith – KIA
2nd Lt Cecil E. Coats – KIA
2nd St. Francis G. McGinty – KIA
2nd Lt. Benjamin C. Stauber – KIA
T/Sgt. William D. McCormack – KIA
6 POW – (They were imprisoned in Tokyo Kempei Tai Headquarters). 2 died of their wounds, while 4 survived:
Sgt. Kenneth Peterson – POW – Died at Tokyo Kempei Tai
2nd Lt. John S. Houghton – POW – Died at Tokyo Kempei Tai
S/Sgt. Francis M. Reynolds – POW/Liberated
S/Sgt. Sylvio LaMarca – POW/Liberated
Sgt. Morris W. SanSouci – POW/Liberated
S/Sgt. John W. Evans – POW/Liberated

Capt. Stephen J. Chaney – Vietnam Casualty

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Stephen John Chaney was born in Marion, Ohio, 26 January 1946. He was the son of Kenneth D. Chaney and Frances Rita Irvin Chaney. Stephen’s father, Kenneth D. Chaney, was also a veteran. The elder Chaney served during World War Two and the Korean War. Stephen J. Chaney was a 1964 graduate of Marion Catholic High School. Stephen was an athlete recruited by many top colleges. He was an All-Ohio football player in 1963 while playing for Marion Catholic High School. He surprised many when he chose Notre Dame to be his college selection. Many thought he would seek an appointment to West Point.

Stephen ChaneyAfter only a year at Notre Dame, Chaney felt the call to serve his country in a time of need. He enlisted and served his country working his way through the ranks. On 8 February 1967, Chaney earned his commission at Fort Benning, Georgia. He later attained the rank of Captain.

He served 14 months as a platoon leader of a long range reconnaisance patrol while in Viet Nam. It was during this time that he recognized a dire need for good leaders. Instead of being discharged and returning to Notre Dame as was a dream for him, he remained to try and save young soldiers by being a leader to them. After spending 30 days leave with his parents, Chaney returned for another six months tour in Vietnam.

A young 2nd Lieutenant Stephen J. Chaney would give the oath of enlistment to his father, Master Sergeant Kenneth D. Chaney. This would be the eighth time Master Sergeant Chaney would say the oath of enlistment as he was a career Army man. Lt. Chaney was home on leave prior to leaving for a tour in Vietnam.
From Army Reserve Magazine February 1968, Page 30

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Chaney’s leadership style can be summed up by the awards he received: awarded the Bronze Star Medal ‘…for Meritorious Service for the totality of his leadership skills.’ He received the Army Commendation Medal ‘…for his leadership and quick action during efforts to extinguish a warehouse fire caused by an enemy rocket attack, personally leading the removal of critical equipment from the burning warehouse, stopping only when forced to by intense heat and the threat of exploding ordinance.’
Shared by Tim Lyons.

While assigned to Reconnaissance Team Missouri, CCN, MACV-SOG, 5TH SF GROUP, on a covert mission with in Loas in September of 1969, he remained at his post to call in close air support for his men, in which he would receive shrapnel wounds from the strike. Captain Chaney, although injured, remained to account and gather all his men for an evacuation. He remained until all his men were loaded; he was to be the last evacuated when the helicopters arrived. Sadly, Chaney died before arriving at a field hospital. Captain Stephen J. Chaney received the Silver Star for his actions. His parents would receive the posthumous award at Fort Hayes, Columbus, Ohio, in early 1970. Among Capt. Chaney’s awards he also was the recipient of the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal and Combat Infantryman Badge.

Chaney is so honored in Marion, Ohio, that VFW Post 7201 is named in his honor, Stephen J. Chaney VFW Post 7201.

Citation:

Silver Star

For gallantry in action while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam: Captain Chaney distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 23 September 1969 while leading a reconnaissance patrol deep in enemy-controlled territory.

Following helicopter insertion into the hostile area, Captain Chaney led his men in a careful search for signs of enemy movement. As the team moved cautiously through the enemy sanctuary, a footbridge crossing a narrow stream was spotted a short distance away. Captain Chaney instructed his men to take up defensive positions while he crawled close to the bridge. From there he observed a contingent of about fifteen enemy troops encamped across the stream. He then crawled back to his men and briefed them on a plan to call in air strikes on the unsuspecting enemy and then assault them while they were stunned and confused.

When the helicopter gunships arrived over the enemy’s position, Captain Chaney began directing and adjusting their fire on the foe. The rockets fired by the first gunship were exactly on target, but one rocket fired by the second gunship veered from its course and impacted near the reconnaissance team’s position, wounding every member of the team and preventing the planned assault.

Although critically wounded by flying shrapnel, Captain Chaney calmly remained in control of the situation. He informed the forward air controller of what had happened and requested that an extraction team be dispatched to evacuate his men. When the recovery team arrived, Captain Chaney, now extremely weak and close to expiring, was still in command of his men and anxious that they be promptly evacuated and given medical assistance. Captain Chaney, however, succumbed to his wounds before he reached rear medical facilities.

Captain Chaney’s gallantry in action, at the cost of his life, was in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.

Captain Stephen J. Chaney is remembered on the Honor Roll, at the Veterans Memorial Park in Marion, Ohio; on the west wall of the Marion County Courthouse; on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the Marion County Admin building, at 222 West Center St., in Marion, Ohio.
Capt. Stephen J. Chaney is also remembered on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, Washington, D. C., on Panel 18W Line 129.

“Casualties“, by Heather Brandon:

Some were his classmates, some teammates, and this friend Tim wrote a beautiful eulogy and read it. It was just beautiful. He said Stephen had said – and I know it’s true, that he sat in our living room and said this – “I went over there the first time, and I was this gung-ho Second Lieutenant. I know now that it is a political war, but I have to go back, because of all these eighteen and nineteen-year-old boys who are going over there. If I can save just one…”

Further Reading:
The American Catholic

Charles Allen McKinstry – World War One Casualty

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Charles Allen McKinstry was born in Ohio, in July of 1895. McKinstry was the only child of Mr. Marshall McKinstry & Mrs. Bertha E. (Crissinger) McKinstry. Prior to entering service, Charles A. McKinstry was employed as an electrician with the Marion Telephone Company.
Based on young McKinstry’s skills as an electrician, he was enlisted into the Signal Corps on 15 June 1918. He was enlisted with F Company, 10th Depot Battalion, Signal Corps. McKinstry was assigned to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He left Kansas in August, to head to Camp Merrit, New Jersey. He was able to get word to his family that this trip would take him through Marion. When the train stopped, in Marion’s Union Station, his mother was able to meet him and spend a couple hours visiting.
McKinstry would head to Camp Merrit, New Jersey and then set sail for England. Once McKinstry left the states his parents never heard word from him again. Sometime in September 1918, another Marion soldier, Byron Enos, wrote his mother telling of McKinstry being ill and in the hospital in England.
Mrs. McKinstry had written her son after he left Camp Merrit, New Jersey. On the morning of 20 November 1918, Mrs. McKinstry received the letter back with “Deceased October 4” written on the envelope. That was her first indication of her son’s death. It wasn’t until November 24th, that the family would receive official notice, from the War Department, of Charles A. McKinstry’s death. His death that occurred on 4 October 1918.
Charles Allen McKinstry is buried in the Marion Cemetery.
Charles Allen McKinstry is remembered on the Honor Roll, at the Veterans Memorial Park in Marion, Ohio; and on the World War One Honor Roll, located on the second floor of the Marion County Courthouse.

From The Marion Daily Star dated 11-25-1918

ALLEN M’KINSTRY’s DEATH
IS OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED

Parents Get Wire from
Washington Today.

Mr. and Mrs. Marshall McKinstry, of No. 450 Blaine avenue, received official notice last evening of the death of their son, Allen McKinstry, who died of pneumonia, October 3, in Knotty Ann hospital, Liverpool, England. The message came from the adjutant general in Washington.
The first news of the young man’s death was received by the parents last Wednesday, when a letter written by Mrs. McKinstry to her son, was returned to her, with the words, “Deceased October 3,” written across the envelope.

CSM Kenneth D. Chaney

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Kenneth D. Chaney was born 3 May 1919, in Radnor, Ohio. He married Frances Rita Irvin in March 1941. Kenneth graduated from Harding High School with the class of 193?. Prior to entering service, Cheney was Head Usher with the Palace Theater. He had also been employed at the Erie Railroad, as a signalman; and the General Telephone Company.
Kenneth and Frances had a son, Stephen J. Chaney, who was killed in Vietnam. His other child was, Sheila Anne (Chaney) Bisaillon.

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Kenneth Chaney (Right) with his son, Stephen Chaney.

Kenneth Chaney was in the army serving in World War Two from 11 February 1941 to 28 August 1945. He would also serve in the Korean War, 19 August 1950 to June 1952, and during the Berlin Crisis Oct 1961 to August 1962. Kenneth would continue to serve in the reserves until his retirement, in 1979. He would retire as a Command Sergeant Major (CSM), after 30 years of service .
CSM Kenneth D. Chaney died 24 Sep 2007, in Marion, Ohio. He is buried in Saint Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Marion, Ohio.
Kenneth D. Chaney is also remembered on the World War Two Veterans Memorial Wall at the Marion Cemetery.

Herbert A. Keifer – World War One Casualty

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KeiferHHerbert A. Keifer was born on 27 June 1888, in Marion, Ohio. He is the son of George & Kate Keifer. Resident of Marion, Ohio, prior to entering service. Keifer was a painter before leaving Marion. At the time of his being called to service he listed himself as being employed with Mason Tire and Rubber Company in Kent, Ohio. He left with the Marion Selects to Camp Sherman in June of 1917. At Camp Sherman, Keifer was working in the Developing Department. He was assigned to Company O, 2nd Development Battalion, 158th Depot Brigade.

While at Camp Sherman it was reported that Herbert Keifer died of bronchial pneumonia caused by Spanish Influenza. He died at the Base Hospital, Camp Sherman, Ohio on 5 October 1918. Keifer was about 29 years old. Herbert A. Keifer is buried in the Marion Cemetery. Keifer had a sister, Miss Mary Keifer of Marion, Ohio; and a brother, Milton Keifer from Kent, Ohio. Milton was notified as next of kin.

Keifer10-07-1918
Marion Daily Star 10-07-1918

Herbert Keifer is remembered on the Honor Roll at the Veterans Memorial Park in Marion, Ohio, and World War One Honor Roll located on the second floor of the Marion County Courthouse.

Note: His name is spelled Keifer on the World War One Memorial and in the Marion Daily Star articles. His headstone spells his name as Keefer. Most other records such as census, draft card city directories used Keifer.