News About Men in Service From Over Northeast Iowa
TRAER—Mr. and Mrs. Henry Fehr have received word from their son, Pfc. Harris Fehr, that he is now stationed in Italy. The soldier was in England for several months and participated in the conquest of North Africa before going to Italy.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, April 23, 1944
TRAER SOLDIER IS MISSING IN ACTION.
Traer, Ia.—Mr. and Mrs. Henry Fehr of Traer, formerly of the Dysart vicinity, were notified this week by the War Department that their son, Pvt. Harris Fehr, 26, has been listed as missing in action since June 3, in Italy. His last two letters, written in May, were from Naples and the Anzio beachhead.
Fehr entered service in 1941, and had been overseas since February, 1942. He was in the North Africa campaign before he was moved to Italy late this spring. Before entering service, he was employed in a Waterloo service station for several months.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, July 6, 1944
Traer Man Killed in Action in Italy
Harris Fehr is 23rd Tama County War Death
Traer, Ia.—Mr. and Mrs. Henry Fehr have received word from the War Department that their son, Pfc. Harris W. Fehr, 26, had been killed in action on June 3, in Italy. The War Department had previously reported Fehr as missing in action.
He was born on a farm three miles east of Dysart, Dec. 5, 1919, and graduated from Dysart high school in 1937. He farmed for about a year on a farm near Dysart and later worked at a service station in Dysart.
Employed in Waterloo.
He was an employee of the John Deere Tractor Co. in Waterloo about a year before entering service on Apr. 17, 1941. He also worked at a service station in Waterloo part time while working at Deere’s.
He was trained at Camp Claiborne, La., and embarked from Ft. Dix, N.J., Feb. 16, 1942, with the second contingent of army troops to leave the United States for service overseas. He saw action in Africa and was sent to Italy in March of this year and the last letter received from him was written from the Anzio beachhead a week before his death.
Sister in Dysart.
He is the 23rd Tama county service man to lose his life in the present war.
He is survived by his parents in Traer, two brothers, Harland, Minneapolis, Minn., and Delmar, at home; and a sister, Mrs. Merle Clough, Dysart.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, July 21, 1944
Pfc. Fehr Sixth Traer War Casualty
Special to The Gazette.
TRAER—Pfc. Harris Fehr, 26, who previously had been reported missing in action in Italy, June 3, has now been officially declared dead, the War Department has advised his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Fehr. He had been overseas since March.
Pvt. Fehr was the twenty-third Tama county man and the sixth Traer man to lose his life in this war.
Source: Cedar Rapids Gazette, July 23, 1944
Harris W. Fehr was born Dec. 5, 1917 to Henry W. and Kathryn A. Kersten Fehr. He died June 3, 1944 and is buried in Dysart Cemetery, Dysart, IA.
Harris served in World War II with the U.S. Army 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division and was KIA in Italy.
Source: ancestry.com
