YANK MISSING
St. Ansgar -- Mrs. Hilmer Hobbs received word from the war department that her husband, Sgt. Hilmer Hobbs, is missing in action, somewhere in Germany. Sgt. Hobbs is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Hobbs and another son, Merle, a seaman on the U.S.S. Houston, has been missing in action for the past 3 years.
Source: The Mason City Globe-Gazette, February 17, 1945
SEAMAN CAPTURED, BROTHER KILLED --Mr. and Mrs. Lee Hobbs of St. Ansgar received word from the war department that their son, S.Sgt Hilmer Hobbs, who was previously reported missing in action in Germany, was killed in action Jan. 31 this year. He was attached to the 78th Lightening division with the 1st army under General Hodges. Just the day before this news came, the parents got a card from their son, Merle, seaman 1/c, on the U.S.S. Houston, who had been reported missing the past 3 years. He states he is a prisoner of the Japs, is in good health and working for wages.
Source: The Mason City Globe-Gazette, February 28, 1945 (photos included)
Hilmer Welcome Hobbs was born July 18, 1924 to Lee R. and Agnes Mikkelson Seffinga Hobbs. He died Jan. 31, 1945 in the Battle of the Bulge and is buried in Saint Ansgar Cemetery, Saint Ansgar, IA.
Source: ancestry.com
