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Application for Headstone
or Marker shows that Pvt Gilbert W. Hansen was laid to rest in
Oakland Cemetery, Denison (Crawford), IA in 1949.
Gilbert registered for the
draft in his hometown of Denison, Iowa on 1 July 1941. He was inducted
into the Army on 2 August 1941.
Pvt Hansen was transferred
from Hq 82d Airborne Division Leicester, England to Service4 Company,
508th PIR on 13 September 1944,
On 10 December 1944, he
was transferred to Hq 2nd. Just 8 days later he was one of the
many 508th personnel rushed into the Battle of the Bulge, On 10
March 1945, he was awarded yhe Combat Infantryman Badge for action
during the campaign, 18 Dec 1944 to 20 Feb 1945,
On 3 May 1945, the morning
Report stated that Pvt Hansen was deceased as of 0200 hours, 1 May 45.
The cause was a Jeep accident in Chartres. at that time it was
undetermined whether it had been in the line of duty.
A week later, the Morning
Report had a change to the earlier submission. It now stated the
accident had occurred a day earlier on 30 April.
Although they had received
a telegram earlier, this letter from General Ulio Adjutant General of
the Army, dated 11 May. confirmed the death thus removing any hope that
a mistake had been made. Note that the death date of 1 May has again
been cited.
 In
fact, his remains, along with 16 other men from the Sioux City area were
aboard the army transport Barney Kirschbaum. The ship actually
arrived there two days before this article was published.
That article, from the Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, IA, 12 Mar 1949,
Sat. Page 12], stated in opening
"72
IOWA WAR DEAD ARRIVE -
Bodies of 72 Iowans are among those of 6,785 World War II veterans
which had arrived Wednesday in New York, N.Y., Aboard the United
States army transport Barney Kirschbaum. ... The dead, brought from
temporary military cemeteries in France Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg
and England, are being returned at the request of next of kin for
burial in private or national cemeteries."
One can only begin to imagine the
logistics' of notifying nearly 6,800 families via telegram on which
train would carry their loved ones remains home, securing confirmations,
coordinating transport to the rail stations, and more
Once Gilbert's remains reached Denison,
IA, he was laid to final rest in the town's Oakland Cemetery. Note
that the Application for a Headstone or Marker again cites the May 1st
date of death. The request was signed by Atnada Schraeder,
Gilbert's mother, who had remarries following her husband's death.
On 11 May, 1948, Mrs.. Schraeder, being
the next of kin, submitted this application to receive her son's Iowa
WWII Veteran's Bonus payment. What followed, and not shown here,
was a volley of paperwork which requested copies of the birth
certificate of her son, proof of her first husband's death, proof of
marriage to Mr. Schrader. Once all those requirements had been
met, she received the full $500 bonus award that had been due to her
son. |
