One Waterloo Man Killed,
Two Missing
One Waterloo man was reported killed in action and two were added to the list of missing, in messages received by relatives Thursday.
Killed was Staff Sgt. Norman L. Venter, 24, while Maj. Eugene Seaburn, 30, and Emmette Lynn Wilson, 25, machinist’s mate first class, were missing.
Machinist’s Mate Wilson, has been reported missing since the first of April, according to a war department messaged received by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Emmette Wilson, 327 East Seventh street.
Wilson, whose last letter was dated Apr. 4, has been serving on the U. S. S.M.L. Abel since June, 1944. He had previously served 26 months on Bora Bora, on of the Society island grop in the southwest Pacific.
A pre-Pearl Harbor enlistee, he entered service in June, 1940.
[NOTE: Portions of this article regarding Major Seaburn and Sgt. Venter have been omitted but may be found on their individual webpages within this site.]
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Thursday, April 26, 1945, Page 1
E. L. Wilson Presumed Dead
Emmette Lynn Wilson, machinist’s mate first class, who was previously reported missing in action when the USS M. L. Abele on which he was serving was lost in the Pacific on Apr. 12, 1945, is now listed by the navy department as dead, according to word received here by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Emmette M. Wilson, 321 East Seventh street.
Wilson enlisted in the navy on Sept. 10, 1940, trained at Great Lakes, ill., and in November was assigned to the USS Cincinnati. In February, 1943, he was transferred to the Bora Bora islands in the southwest Pacific and served there until April, 1944, when he was returned to Norfolk, Va., for reassignment. Five months later he was assigned to the Abele.
Born June 25, 1919, in Black Hawk county near Benson, he later moved to Parkersburg, Ia., with his parents and attended school there.
Surviving besides his parents are two sisters, Marian Wilson and Mrs. C. E. Harken, both at home, also his paternal grandfather, Evan l. Wilson, 429 Riehl street.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Friday, June 01, 1945, Page 9
NOTE: USS Mannert L. Abele (DD-733) patrolling after the invasion of Okinawa, of which she was a participant, came under fire from about 18 to 28 kamikaze planes northeast of Okinawa. One of the kamikaze planes crashed into her starboard side which exploded in her engine room. A minute later the Abele took a second hit, proving to be fatal for the destroyer. Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Mannert_L._Abele_(DD-733)
