LAWRENCE BRANDENBURG NOW “MISSING IN ACTION”
War Dept. Says It Happened “In European Area” of the War
Mr. and Mrs. George Brandenburg of Fredonia township have been notified by the War Department that their son, Technical Sergeant Lawrence Brandenburg, has been missing in action since April 17.
The telegram specifies that this soldier is missing “in the European area,” suggesting that he may have been taking part in a commando raid against Norway or some other part of Axis-controlled Europe. Recent reports of losses in the African area have so specified and as there is no established front in Europe, this suggests raids. This gives reason for hoping that Sgt. Brandenburg may be reported later as prisoner, but unharmed.
Lawrence Brandenburg was drafted into the Army on February 17, 1942, at LeMars, and did very well in the Army, advancing to a non-commissioned officer’s rating. He went overseas in December.
Sgt. Brandenburg was a farm worker before he was drafted. He has a brother, now in Navy training at Farragut, Idaho. He is the first Fredonia township boy to be a casualty in the present war, and although he was in the Army a year and a half, he has never been home on furlough since he was drafted.
Source: LeMars Globe-Post, April 26, 1943
Our Neighbors in the Services.
Hospers, Iowa – Relatives here have received word that Staff Sergeant Lawrence Brandenburg is missing in action, presumably during a raid over Germany or German occupied territory. He was in the radio branch of the air corps and was in England the last word received from him. His parents, former residents here, reside near LeMars. Mr. and Mrs. Riedmiller, his grandparents, live here.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, April 27, 1943
Sioux City Youth Wins Air Medal
First Lieut. Edward R. Mitchell, 24, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Mitchell, 201 Webster building, Fifth and Jackson Streets, was one of eight Iowa members of the United States Army Eighth Air Force in England awarded decorations for valor and exceptional performance against the enemy, the war department announced Thursday night.
The young Sioux City officer received the Air Medal. In a letter written from England Easter Sunday and received Saturday, Lieut. Mitchell said that more recently he had been assigned to ferrying and test hops, but wished to “get back into combat and get the war over with.” He expressed enthusiasm for having been recipient of “handmade shoes and a tailor-made blouse.”
Mrs. Milton Miller, a sister residing at the same address here, said she had no idea what the nature of the “exceptional performance against the enemy” may have consisted of.
Lieut. Mitchell was accepted as an aviation cadet by the air force January 3 and took pilot training on the Pacific Coast. He was graduated from Trinity High School and attended Trinity College. He also took an aeronautical course at Morningside College.
Also receiving the air medal were Technical Sergeant Lawrence J. Brandenburg, LeMars; Staff Sergeant Robert G. Lentz, Fort Dodge and Staff Sergeant Kenneth R. Morse, Eagle Grove.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, May 14, 1943
LAWRENCE BRANDENURG NOW REPORTED KILLED
Mr. and Mrs. George Brandenburg, Fredonia township farmers, received word for the war department, stating that their son, Lawrence J. Brandenburg, has been declared dead. In April, 1943, war department reported him missing in action over aerial Europe.
The official announcement that he was dead, arrived over 14 months since the soldier was reported missing. He was inducted into the army February 21, 1942, and has been awarded the air medal and third oak leaf cluster Purple Heart.
Source: LeMars Globe-Post, June 29, 1944
PAY FINAL TRIBUTE TO YOUNG SOLDIER
Services For Sgt. L. Brandenburg
Memorial services were held on Thursday morning in St. Catherine’s Church at Oyens for Sgt. Lawrence Brandenburg, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Brandenburg of Fredonia township.
Young Brandenburg, 23 year old technical sergeant in the air force, was lost in a raid over Bremen, Germany, April 13, 1943. In accordance with the war department’s regulations a year was allowed to lapse before a presumptive date of death was declared, and the parents recently received word that he was listed among the dead on April 18, this year.
Sergeant Brandenburg was a radio operator and gunner on a B-24 bomber, stationed at an air base somewhere in England. He was inducted into the army February 18, 1942, and has been awarded the air medal, second and third oak leaf cluster. His brother, Petty Officer Clarence Brandenburg is in service somewhere in the Pacific.
The memorial services were attended by ex-service men and members of Pieper Post, American Legion, of Remsen, were in charge of the final services at the graveside.
Source: LeMars Semi-Weekly Sentinel, July 11, 1944
Sgt. Brandenburg served in World War II with the U.S. Army Air Corps, 401st Bomber Squadron, 91st Bomber Group, Heavy and is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing, Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters.
Source: ancestry.com; abmc.gov
