OUR NEIGHBORS in the SERVICES
Mapleton, IA.--Virgil E. Bales, pharmachists mate first class, formerly of Mapleton and Sioux City, was reported missing in action November 17 by the Navy department. He is a son of Mrs. Bertha Bales of Watsonville, Cal., and a nephew of Mrs. Emma Neill of Sioux City.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, January 1, 1944 (photo included)
Virgil Etherain Bales was born Jan. 28, 1919 to Charles Alfred and Bertha Ellen Doud Bales. He died Nov. 17, 1943 and is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City, Philippines.
Petty Officer Bales served in World War II aboard the USS McKean and was MIA/KIA when that ship was sunk off Bougainville Island in the Solomon Sea as the result of being struck by an enemy torpedo. He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Source: ancestry.com; abmc.gov
