(This post was originally published on March 26, 2011 here.)
SGT Lester Bader was a handsome young man whose life was cut short while serving in World War II. His obituary is extremely interesting. He was apparently a very brave and intelligent young man that had quite the military career. I'd love to know more about those "secret duties"!
Rest in peace, SGT Bader. You died while defending a monastery. I'm sure you scored lots of points with the Big Guy for that one! Your memory will always live on.
"SGT Lester Bader
Sgt. Bader's Body Arriving Wednesday
The body of Sgt. Lester Bader, 25, Luxemburg, route 2, son of Mrs. Mary Bader, Luxemburg, who was killed in action on Christmas day, 1943, in Italy, will arrive on the Milwaukee road at 9:45 Wednesday evening, and will be met by the Ralph Kline American Legion post, Luxemburg, who will escort it to the Dupont-Malcore Funeral home.
Sgt. Bader was killed while defending a monastery on Mount Defoncha, Casino, Italy. He was born in Red River and before his enlistment the day after Pearl Harbor, he operated a farm with his brothers, and served as auction clerk in company with a brother's auctioneering business. He attended East High school in Green Bay.
After training at Fort Riley, Kan., and El Paso, Tex., the soldier entered the secret service and took special training at Norfolk, W. Va. He was on secret duty in Attu, Alaska, and in Africa before being transferred to the European theater of war.
Besides his mother, he is survived by three brothers, Mose and Ralph, on the home farm, and Edward, Green Bay; and three sisters, Mrs. Martin Williams, New Franken, Mrs. Joseph Coel, Edgewater Beach, and Mrs. Jerry Baier, Green Bay.
The Holy Name society of St. Louis church, Dyckesville, of which he was a member, will say the rosary at 8 o'clock Wednesday evening at the funeral home, with the Rev. Ludolph Jacobs, O. Praem.
Funeral services will be held at 10 o'clock Friday morning in St. Louis church, Dyckesville, with Father Jacobs offering the requiem mass. Burial will be in the church cemetery. The Ralph Kline American Legion post will conduct the military rites."
No publication information was written with the newspaper clipping I have. It would most likely be from one of the local Wisconsin newspapers, perhaps the Green Bay Press-Gazette since he attended high school in Green Bay.
This clipping was indeed from the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Sadly Wix is cropping the bottom of my image and even though there is a caption below that isn't showing up. Apparently this has been a constant problem on the platform. If you would like to see the entire article you can go to my original blog post or you can find this on Newspapers.com in the Green Bay Press-Gazette, 05OCT1948, pg 26. I'm curious why the body came back to late after the war. This isn't the first time I've seen that and I don't know exactly why that happens. My initial thought is that perhaps he was buried overseas and the family wanted his remains returned for local burial, but that's just a guess.
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