ALGONA BOY GIVEN AIR MEDAL IN NEW GUINEA AIR BASE
Mrs. Wm. Neuroth, Algona, is in receipt of a letter from the Commander of the Allied Air Forces in the Southwest Pacific area, Lt. Gen. George C. Kenney, in which he speaks highly of the Algona boy’s service to his combat organization. Tech. Sgt. Florian L. Neuroth is a gunner on a B-26 bomber and has 48 missions to his credit. The letter:
Aug. 22, 1944. Dear Mrs. Neuroth: Recently your son, Tech. Sgt. Florian L. Neuroth, was decorated with the Air Medal. It was an award made in recognition of courageous service to his combat organization, his fellow American airmen, his country, his home, and to you. He was cited for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flights in the Southwest Pacific area from Oct. 12, 1943 to April 3, 1944.
Your son took part in sustained operational flight missions, during which hostile contact was probable and expected. These flights included bombing missions against enemy installations, shipping and supply bases, and aided considerably in the recent successes in this theatre. Almost every hour of every day your son, and the sons of other American mothers, are doing just such things as that here in the Southwest Pacific. Theirs is a very real and very tangible contribution to victory and to peace.
I would like to tell you how genuinely proud I am to have men such as your son in my command, and how gratified I am to know that young Americans with such courage and resourcefulness are fighting our country’s battle against the aggressor nations.
You, Mrs. Neuroth, have every reason to share that pride and gratification. Sincerely, George C. Kenney, Lieutenant General, Commanding.
Mrs. Neuroth has another son, Pfc. Victor Neuroth, also stationed in the New Guinea area. The two brothers have visited each other. Victor is in the gas supply detachment. Only recently he mailed to his mother a necklace and bracelet made from sea shells and the result of his own handicraft.
~Source: Algona Upper Des Moines, September 5, 1944
Florian Leo Neuroth was born May 31, 1921 to William Nicholas and Theresia Kunkel Neuroth. He died Nov. 20, 2006 and is buried in Saint Michaels Catholic Cemetery, Whittemore, IA.
Source: ancestry.com
