News About Men in Service From Over Northeast Iowa
Nashua—Why Staff Sgt. Clarence E. Strike, nephew of Mr. and Mrs. A.D. Leaman of Nashua, and an aerial top turret gunner on a bomber in China, was taken out of combat, April 1, and sent to a rest camp for a 10-days rest period, may be explained by a letter received Friday by Mrs. Leaman from Miss Dorothy Karabees, of Marian, Va. Telling her that her fiancé, Sgt. Jesse Spencer, who was on the same bomber with Sergeant Strike, had been recently reported missing in action , and asking for Sergeant Strike’s address for more information. He was the second one to have been missing in action from this bomber. The two missing men and Sgt. Strike went through service schools together in South Carolina, crossed overseas, and had since been together.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, April 23, 1944
Nashua—Staff Sgt. Clarence E. Strike, instructor in a gunnery school at Davis Menthon field, Tucson, Ariz., has reenlisted in the Army for a three-year term, and will be granted a three months’ furlough. It is believed that he is the first one in the community to reenlist. His father, Col. Clarence L. Strike, who is in the service, will be eligible for retirement in a short time. Sergeant Strike returned to the States a year ago last June, from serving as an aerial gunner on a bomber 13 months over China and India. He holds three awards, the Silver Star, Air Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross. He is a nephew of Mr. and Mrs. A. D. Leaman of Nashua.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, October 17, 1945
Clarence Ethelbert Strike was born Jan. 11, 1917 to Clarence Leroy and Ethyl G. Hawkins Strike. He died Mar. 30, 2003 and is buried in Rock Grove Township Cemetery, Nora Springs, IA.
Source: ancestry.com
