Return Bodies of 10 S. W. Iowans
Three From Bluffs Area
Bodies of 59 Iowa service men, including 10 from southwest Iowa, were among the 2,792 war dead returned Tuesday aboard the army transport Cardinal O’Connell, which docked in San Francisco, Calif.
Three of the men returned aboard the Cardinal O’Connell are from the Council Bluffs area, including M. Sgt. James B. Cavanagh of Neola, Seaman 1/c John Henry Field and Tech 5/g Lyle C. Smith of Council Bluffs.
Cpl. Smith, son of Clyde C. Smith, 3014 Avenue C, was fatally wounded on Kwajelein on Feb. 2, 1943. He was a native of Tekamah, Neb., graduated from high school there. He will be buried in Tekamah cemetery. His father came to Council Bluffs last year.
[NOTE: Portions of this article regarding MSgt. Cavanagh and Seaman Field have been omitted but may be found on their individual webpages within this site.]
Bodies of the servicemen returned on the O’Connell were taken from many cemeteries throughout the Pacific. A large number of the bodies had been concentrated at the mausoleum in the Hawaiian islands after smaller mid-Pacific island cemeteries had been evacuated. The bulk of the others are being returned from cemeteries at Brisbane and Sydney, Australia, and Guadalcanal.
Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Iowa, Tuesday, February 10, 1948, Page 4
