This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Surnames: Smith
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Ck.2ADE/644
Message Board Post:
Howard Bruce Smith of Starke County Indiana was killed October 24, 1944, while serving in
the South Pacific during World War II. He is officially listed as missing or buried at sea
and his name appears on the “Tablets of the Missing” at the Manila American Cemetery in
the Philippines. We are seeking information regarding his military and civilian life and
especially locate any family members still living so we can send them the free photographs
of his grave site and the beautiful memorial in the Philippines.
We have found the following reference at the Indiana State Library website; World War II
database. We do not have the information because we do not have access to the microfilms
here in the Philippines but we are hoping for some help from our posting. Our goal is to
find the families of Indiana servicemen and present them with free photographs of their
loved one’s grave sites and names as they appear on the “Tablets”. This information will
increase our chances of finding the families. Please help us!
References:
Indianapolis News
July 11, 1945
Casualty
Part 1, Page 7, Column 2
Indianapolis Star
May 14, 1943
Prisoner
Page 15, Column 3
I am a retired Hoosier from Madison County Indiana residing in the Philippines with my
Filipino wife. We are seeking family and military information of nearly a thousand
servicemen from Indiana killed in the South Pacific during World War II. There are 17,206
Americans buried here and thousands more that are missing or buried at sea and are honored
on the “Tablets of the Missing”. Please visit our website to see the beautiful memorial
located in Manila, Philippines.
http://fizkid.tripod.com/
My wife and I visited the cemetery as visitors and left with a mission in our heart. We
have been taking photographs of the graves of the Indiana servicemen buried here and have
been uniting them (at no charge) with their family members in Indiana and across the
United States. To receive the photo of your family member, neighbor or friend all you need
is a working email address. We do not send them to regular mailing addresses due to the
costs. Please help us find the families of the men that might still be living. Our project
is only successful because of teamwork and your contributions are noted on our website. If
you wish to help us we will be pleased to add your name to our ACKNOWLEDGMENT page on the
website. The obituaries usually did not appear till to three months after the death date.
If you are not a genealogist you can help by just picking up the telephone directory and
find someone with the same last name and give them a call. It has worked many times for
us.
Zenas5(a)yahoo.com
Sincerely,
Dave and Apple Dwiggins
San Pablo City, Philippines