KIMBALL COUNTY'S GOLD STARS

The Gold Star Lapel Button and Next of Kin Lapel Button are awarded to families of military personal who died while in military service.

In Kimball, a number of families have received these pins. The pins are issued to recognize U.S. service members who have died in armed conflicts (Gold Star pin) or while on active duty (Next of Kin pin) since World War I.

Leading up to Memorial Day 2024, or at anytime in the year, there's a revered place in Kimball to salute some of this area's war dead.

On a wall of the lower lobby of the Kimball County Courthouse are plaques to commemorate military personnel who died in World War I and World War II. Other service member also are recognized on this wall.

Following is a listing of many of those from this area who lost their lives while serving America in the 20th century.

WORLD WAR I

Charles V. Neely served as a runner in the 354th Infantry, 89th Division, of the American Expeditionary Forces. He was killed in November 1919.

A handwritten list mentions these service personnel from Kimball County: George N Jimpey, died Oct. 26, 1918 in France. Also listed with no further details were Fred Flohr and Ervin Titman.

Howard Roberts was killed in battle, according to the Dec. 5, 1919, issue of the Western Nebraska Observer.

WORLD WAR II

Robert Kenneth Bickel was killed Dec. 7, 1941, on the USS Arizona. Keith L. Childers was also injured on Dec. 7, 1941 but was killed in action on Aug. 24, 1942.

Penrod Louis Reader and Eugene Robert Tebrinke were stationed in the Philippines when it fell to Japan. Penrod Reader was declared missing May 7, 1942, and declared dead Aug. 1, 1945. Eugene Tebrinke was a prisoner of war and died July 9, 1943.

Everette Gettel died in January 1943 after an automobile accident. Francis Raymond Siebejaler died May 14, 1943, near Attu Island in the Aleutian Island, Alaska. Milo Eugene Terry was killed in action July 1, 1943, in New Guinea.

Robert Edward Maginnis Jr. died Jan. 12, 1944, at Spokane, Wash. Robert Lewis Brown wasakilled in action Feb. 4, 1944, at Corpus Christi, Texas.

Keith Truman Holm disappeared over New Guinea on March 22, 1944. He was declared dead Jan. 26, 1946. The plane remains were discovered Feb. 10, 1983.

Wayne Leroy Murray was with the Army Air Corps and shot down April 29, 1944, over Orbetello, Italy. Harry Southard died July 26, 1944, at Saint-Lo, France. His body was returned to Kimball on Dec. 21, 1947.

John Burback died of Splenic Anemia at Army Air Force Regional Hospital at Coral Gables, Fla., on Aug, 2, 1944. Elmer Flohr died Aug. 3, 1944, in France.

Gilbert Fredrick Johnson died Nov. 21, 1944, in Germany. Howard Lenoard Watson died Dec. 15, 1944 near New Guinea.

Francis Marion Dowd, a Marine Corp corporal, was killed in service March 8, 1945 at Iwo Jima. On Dec. 16, 1948 his remains were returned to Kimball to be buried at the Kimball Cemetery. Masso Skigezane, who served with the U.S. Infantry in the Japanese American Unit, was killed in Italy on May 1, 1945.

Clifford Homer Haack was the last reported Kimball County serviceman killed in World War II. It was reported that on Sept. 20, 1945, he was visited by Paul Medley in the Philippines. It was reported that he was in the hospital in Hawaii from wounds he had received.

VIETNAM WAR

Sgt, 1st Class Edward Bernard Steele was killed in action Feb. 23, 1969.

OTHER GOLD STAR MEN

Charles Mark Lanning, a chief boilermasker on the USS Minneapolis, was killed in action on Nov. 30, 1942. His body was returned to Hawaii to be buried on March 26, 1943.

Other personal as listed on the microfilm of the Western Nebraska Observer were the following:

Roy Wright was killed May 29, 1943. Lt. James Dolan died near Williams Field, Ariz., in a hunting accident. Freddie Stone, a Naval dentist, was killed Jan. 31, 1944, in the South Pacific. Lt. James L. Harris a B-24 liberator pilot, was lost over the Aleutian Islands.

Lt. Lawrence Elliot was killed in a airplane accident at Marysville, Calif., on April 15, 1944. Lt. Edward V. Haffner was killed in action May 23, 1944, on his 27th mission as a bombardier over France. MCMM/1-C Waldo Sutherland was killed in action and buried in allied territories.

Private Sam Banaka was killed in battle at Normandy on July 12, 1944. Sgt. Cecil Gibson was killed Aug. 9, 1944, in France.

Baddie McMillon was killed in France Aug. 5, 1944. Major L. C. Dull died Sept. 15, 1944, of wounds received in Florida. Frank Smith was missing in action in France since Nov. 1, 1944.

Pvt. James Claypool was killed in action in Germany and died Febr. 27, 1945. Gene Bickel was killed in action March 5, 1945. Fay Marlatt was killed in action on Luzon Island, Philippines.

Cpl. Louis C. Brammer was killed in a plane crash June 10, 1945 near Clinton, Okla. Lt. Ford Z. McElroy was killed in a plane crash in June 1945 in New York. Pvt. Don McCloud was wounded March 26, 1945, and died May 28, 1945 on Luzon, Philippines.