Local Marine is Killed in Pacific
Pfc. Harry Sluyter, 21, of the United States marines, died of wounds received in action in the Pacific war zone, according to a message his parents, Mr. and Mrs. James H. Sluyter, 1213 Fifth avenue, received Tuesday from the war department.
A graduate of Thomas Jefferson high school with the class of 1942, Sluyter was a member of both football and track squads while in school.
He is one of three brothers in the armed services. Pfc. William Sluyter is in the field artillery in the Pacific war theater and 1st Lt. Harlan Sluyter is stationed in England.
Pfc. Harry graduated from Thomas Jefferson high school in June, 1942, and the following July enlisted in the marines.
Other survivors are his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. William Sluyter of Council Bluffs.
Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Wednesday, August 02, 1944, Page 6
SPORTS DIGEST
Never a Better Competitor Than Harry Sluyter, Coach Declares
By F. W. R.
“I may have had better football guards than Harry Sluyter. Certainly I’ve had plenty of bigger ones, but I never had a tougher one.”
That’s Coach Gaylord Stuelke’s tribute to the late Pfc. Sluyter, whom he tutored in three sports at Thomas Jefferson high school here from1939 until 1942.
Pfc. Sluyter, a member of the United States marines, died of wounds received in action in the Pacific war zone, according to work received Tuesday from the war department by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. James H. Sluyter of this city.
Harry, during his senior year at Tee Jay, weighted only 145 pounds, Stuelke recalled, and he and Bob Warsing, now at the United States coast guard academy, gave the Yellowjackets a pair of real “watch charm” guards. The two were approximately the same size. That was the year Tee Jay first used the “T” formation, the coach went on, recalling Sluyter’s parts in its achievements.
Stuelke, who always has had the knack of getting close to the boys he has coached and really knowing them, described Sluyter as “a great little boy, a competitor of the most determined sort, a wonderful team player. Taken out of a play, he’d be back, tougher than ever for the next. He simply wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Sluyter also lettered in basketball, playing a guard, and in track as a sprinter.
He enlisted in the marines only a short time following his high school graduation in the spring of 1942. He was the youngest of three brothers. The other two both are in the service.
Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Thursday, August 03, 1944, Page 12
Return Body of Bluffs Marine
The body of marine Pfc. Hary Sluyter, 21, of Council Bluffs, killed in action in the Pacific war zone, is one of the 44 being returned to the United States aboard the army transport Dalton Victory. His body will be shipped to Cutler’s funeral home.
Sluyter is the son of Mr. and Mrs. James H. Sluyter, 1213 Fifth avenue. He enlisted in the marine corps in July, 1942.
A graduated of Thomas Jefferson high school with the class of 1942, Sluyter was a member of the football and track squads while in school. He was one of three brothers in the armed service.
Survivors are the parents, two brothers, Capt. Harlan Sluyter, Yokohama, Japan, and William Sluyter of Council Bluffs; a grandmother, Mrs. Emma Sluyter of Council Bluffs; two nephews and a niece.
Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Tuesday, November 30, 1948, Page 3
Funerals
Funeral services for Pfc. Harry Alfred Sluyter, 21, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Sluyter, 1215 Fifth avenue, who was killed in action on Saipan, will be held Monday at 2 p. m. at the Cutler funeral home. Rev. F. A. Barnes, pastor of Fifth Avenue Methodist church will officiate. Burial will be in Memorial Park cemetery with military rites at the grave.
Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Saturday, December 18, 1948, Page 11
