Two Waterloo Men Reported Killed in Action
Get Further Report About Man Now Missing.
Two more Waterloo men were reported killed in action Saturday, according to telegrams received from the war department by their parents and further information was also received concerning a third Waterloo man, who had previously been reported missing in action.
Those killed in action were:
Pfc. Richard L. Smith, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd J. Smith, 1316 Hawthorne avenue, killed in action Jan. 31 in Belgium, while serving with an infantry unit attached to the Third army.
Pfc. James Burton Murley, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Murley, 532 Randall street, killed in action on Jan. 19 in France, while serving with the army medical corps.
Pvt. James Edward Hutchens, son of Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Hutchens, 206 Harwood avenue, listed as missing in action since Dec. 25, is reported to have been aboard a transport ship which was torpedoed Christmas day.
Pvt. Hutchens’ parents have been informed by a letter from the war department that Private Hutchens, who was last known to be in England, was aboard a troop transport ship which was torpedoed on Christmas day. The report stated that 1,400 men were rescued but that Private Hutchens was still listed as among the 700 men missing.
Private Hutchens, whose wife resides in Omaha, Neb., entered service in April, 1943, and trained with the signal corps at Camp Crowder, Mo., and was later transferred to army specialized training at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb., until the discontinuation of this program in April, 1944 when he trained with an infantry unit at Camp Rucker, Ala.
He left for overseas the latter part of November and the last letter received from him was written in England and dated Dec. 11.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Sunday, February 18, 1945, Section Two, Pages 13 & 23 (photo included)
Hutchens on Torpedoed Ship; Dead
Pfc. James Edward Hutchens, 20, who was reported missing in action in the European theater, was killed on that day when his ship, en route from England to France, was torpedoed, it was revealed Saturday in information received by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Hutchens of 205 Harwood avenue.
Private Hutchens, who left for overseas the latter part of November, entered service in April, 1943, and received training in the signal corps at Camp Crowder, Mo. He was later transferred to army specialized training at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, until the discontinuance of this program in April, 1944, when he trained with an infantry unit t Camp Rucker, Ala.
Born Oct. 25, 1924, in Masonville, Ia., the son of Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Hutchens, he came to Waterloo with his parents in 1929. He attended West high school, graduating in June, 1942. Before entering service, he was employed by Rath Packing Co. On Aug. 8, 1944, he married Lois Lindberg at Dorsey, Neb.
He is survived by his parents, two sisters, Miss Bessie M. Hutchens, at home, and Mrs. John Topping, Downing avenue; two brothers, Pfc. Howard R. Hutchens, of the 34th infantry division, now home after three years overseas, and George T. Hutchens, 18, at home.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Sunday, March 25, 1945, Page 3
James Edward Hutchens was born Oct. 25, 1924 to Thomas H. and Amy L. Collins Hutchens. He died Dec. 25, 1944 and is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing, Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France.
Pvt. Hutchens served in World War II with the U.S. Army 262nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division. He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Sources: ancestry.com; abmc.gov
