I visited the Manila American Cemetery several weeks ago and thought of our soldiers that didn't return from the war and other wars. I wondered if their families had been able to make the trip and see the graves. My camera was with me and I walked a few more feet and took a photo of the grave of a soldier from Ohio, then it hit me; take ones of the Indiana servicemen and try and unite them with their families. Since that time I have found 109 names that are on the lists here and are from Central Indiana. I am looking for information including obituaries of the servicemen and email addresses of the families so I can communicate with them and perhaps unite them with photographs of their loved ones graves at no cost. Here are the names of those in Randolph County.

SGT J.A Clouser Buried in Philippines
Glen E. Halstead Navy Reserve - Missing or buried at sea

That is such a great thing of you to do. I will be pleased to look up those obits and give them to the Gen Web site and with your pictures we can do a nice tribute to these two young men. Thanks. Andrea Long sharplongancestors@yahoo.com

Can you provide their marker details with me. It will make it a little easier to find them. Thanks, Andrea sharplongancestors@yahoo.com

SGT J.A. Clouser was in the United States Army Air Force; the 870th Bomber Squadron, 497th Bomber Group. His service number was 35364631 and was killed August 29, 1945.

I have not returned to Manila (I reside in San Pablo City two hours away) to take more photogrpahs. At the present I have taken ten photos and have united a few with one happy family in Gary, Indiana.

Not all of the servicemen were killed in the Philippines but most were. Some of the buried were killed fighting on the other islands such as the Solomons, Marianas, New Guinea and Palau. On the day Clouser was killed, the USA landed occupation troops in Japan but their safety was guarnteed.

Glen E. Halstead was a member of the United States Navy Reserve and classified as Radioman Third Class. His service number was 2932017 and he was killed May 25 1946 long after the war was over. I presume that might have been a military accident but in all fairness I cannot assume that. Despite the war being over in the Philippines the Japanese continued to be isolated in the mountains and carried on individual warfares.

Halstead is listed as Missing in Action or buried at sea so there is no gravesite for him as I understand it.

Although Japan had surrendered the official surrender had not taken place. Hostilities were suppose to have ended.

I am attaching two photos to this posting, one is of the wide view and one is a gravesite of the young man from Gary, Indiana in Lake County. Of the 109 servicemen I have found in the listings and identified them as Hoosiers 55 are buried in Manila. My goal is to take photos of each grave and present them free of charge to the families that provide email addresses. The photographs are digital and photo paper here in the islands is poor quality and fade within days of the printing, so there will be no physical mailings.

I hope this is a bit of help for you. Send a note if you need more info.

Sorry I forgot the attachments on the other posting. Here they are. My next trip to Manila before Christmas I will attempt to find as many of the graves as possible. The first trip the thought of doing this was a quick brainstorm and now it has come to reality. I am doing it because if it were one of my family members it would help in satisfaction of seeing and in the finality of the death. The family in Gary, Indiana was thrilled and it made the project worth my time. Hope we can thrill some more families that gave so much for our freedoms.

Wow what a great bunch of info, should be easy to find their obits and maybe even put something in the local paper and family who might still be here as well as the gen web site. Andrea

It appears the photos did not attach so I will attempt it once more otherwise I will send it to your personal email address. Thank you!

The pictures are there. Wow the one of the cemetery is really neat, I like the way they the crosses look like they are in a curve design.
The only thing I did not see was a picture in reference to Glen E. Halstead Navy Reserve - Missing or buried at sea. Did you get a picture of a marker or is this a reference to a list you did find? Andrea

Andrea, I do not have a photo of Halstead yet. My first trip I only took ten photos but will return and take as many as possible. Halsteas was either Missing in Action or Buried at Sea so there will be no grave for him as I understand it. Since he was a Hoosier soldier that died here I wish to find info about him. My plans are to photograph the remaining 55 graves of those buried from Central Indiana. If you have a special Hoosier serviceman that you would like for me to photograph the grave, I will be happy to do so provided I find a location for their grave.

Dave

I do not have a personal request, thanks for asking, my grandfather served in Europe Theather during that time and I was luck to have him return to the family. I know so many others were not that lucky and I am sure that what you are planning on doing will help make a connection. I think if you would also share your resource for find the information would also help someone else down the road. Thanks for doing this, I am sure your efforts will be appreciated. Andrea