I've been adding a few images lately to Find a Grave memorials for those from Lucas County who died during World War II while in service to their country. The originals in many instances, including this one, are found in a series of scrapbooks maintained by volunteers during the war at the Chariton Public Library and still accessible there in the Lucas County Genealogical Society collection.
U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gordon H. Werts was a Russell boy, but had moved with his family to Bloomfield prior to 1940 and graduated from high school there during 1941. When the fighter plane that he was piloting disappeared into the Pacific during 1944 and he was officially declared dead a year later, his memorial service was held at First Baptist Church in Russell and a cenotaph in his memory was erected in the Russell Cemetery.
Here's more detailed information about Lt. Werts:
WERTS, GORDON H., U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lieutenant (fighter pilot), age 22, of Russell and Bloomfield, gave up his life for his country on 18 July 1944 when the F4U-1D Corsair that he was piloting disappeared between Roi in the Marshall Islands and Tarawa Atoll.
Born 17 October 1921 in Des Moines, Lt. Werts was a son of Walter G. and Dessa F. Werts and a 1941 graduate of Bloomfield High School. He married Sara Ann Brown on 12 November 1943.
Enlisted 2 June 1942 in the Naval Air Cadet Program; commissioned 2nd lieutenant and designated Naval Aviator; trained as a replacement pilot December 1943-May 1944 and deployed to the war zone during June 1944, assigned to Marine Fighting Squadron 113, Marine Air Group 22, 4th Marine Air Wing, flying from Engibi in the Marshall Islands.
Lt. Werts was declared dead a year and a day after his aircraft disappeared, on 19 July 1945. Memorial services were held at First Baptist Church in Russell. His life is commemorated on a cenotaph near the graves of his parents in the Russell Cemetery and on the Tablets of the Missing, Honolulu Memorial, Hawaii.
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