Norwich University - War Whoop Yearbook (Northfield, VT)

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C-I KX Xgxxxxx fffff 'JE ,rffffff .- HOWARD W1-IIPPLE GARDNER Class of 1936 Major, 32nd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division After graduating from Norwich, Major Gardner entered the employ of the General American Transportation Corporation of Chicago. When called to active duty in February of 1941 he was engaged in research work on heater and refrigerator cars. Major Gardner reported for duty with the Armored Force at Fort Benning, Georgia. I-Ie became the executive officer of the 3rd Battalion of the 32nd Armored Regiment prior to their ship- ment overseas in September, 1943. After landing in France he was decorated with the Bronze Star Medal and the Silver Star Medal for outstanding action against the enemy. It was while serving as executive officer that Major Gardner was killed 11 miles east of Avranches, France, on August 2, 1944, when he left his command tank to aid in the rescue of some trapped tank crewmen. Before returning to his tank he attempted to recon- noitcr the area and was hit in the forehead with a mortar shell f- xxg fragment. His wife, Evelyn N. Gardner, and son, John Howard Gardner, reside in Red Wing, Minnesota. adam, RIFORD STEELE WILLIAMS Class of 1936 Captain, 112th Cavalry Regiment Captain Williams was awarded the Silver Star Medal and the Bronze Star Medal for his outstanding action against the enemy on the islands in the Pacific. He participated in the action at Woodlark, Arawa, Aitape, and Luzon. On March 27, 1945, three months after being given command of his squadron, he, with one enlisted man, was reconnoitering on Luzon in advance of his troop when they were fired upon by the enemy. In the action which followed, Captain Williams exposed himself to the enemy force in order to drag his wounded companion to safety. Both men were killed in the intense fire. Captain Williams' mother, Judge Wilma Steele Williams, whom he saw in October, 1944, while on leave after twenty-nine months overseas, makes her home in Highgate, Vermont. GORTON J. FULLER Class of 1938 Captain, 67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division Captain Fuller of Huntington, Vermont, was called to active duty in February, 1941. He was assigned to the 2nd Armored Division, which was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia. He de- parted for overseas with the 2nd Armored and participated in the invasion of North Africa, fought through the North African Cam- paign, and took part in the invasion of Sicily. Captain Fuller lost his life when the LST in which he was crossing the English Channel for the invasion of France on June 11, 1944, struck a mine. Mrs. Shirley H. Fuller, his wife, resides in South Hadley Falls, Massachusetts. TQHIRTEEN

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XX ffffr 1,1 'Xggg ff ff, xly iff' , SAMUEL WORTH CARDER, JR. Class of 1935 Major, 19th Tactical Air Command Major Carder was called to active duty with the lst Armored Division at Fort Knox, in July, 1940. In August of 1941, he transferred to the Air Corps for training as an aerial observer, at Brooks Field, Texas. XVhile serving as commanding officer of a squadron in the 100th Fighter Wing and as air support liaison officer between the 19th Tacti- cal Air Command and 81st Infantry Division, Major Carder was called to a forward position. While proceeding there in a jeep, he was overtaken and machine-gunned by the Germans. He jumped from the jeep to surrender, but was killed by hand grenades. Major Carder had been awarded the Bronze Star Medal prior to his death. His wife, Martha Avery Carder, and four daughters, Mary Belle, Joan, Martha, and Anne, of New York City, survive him, as do his mother and father, of Detroit, Michigan. EUGENE FORD SYMS Class of 1935 Lieutenant Colonel, United States Marine Corps, Aviation After having been awarded the Senior Gold Medal, and the Loyal Legion Saber for the highest academic and military standing in his class, Cadet Syms was selected for a commission in the Marine Corps upon his graduation from Norwich. Colonel Syms saw action on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, New Georgia Island, R-endova Landing, and Munda Airfield as 11 fighter pilot. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service in action against, the enemy in the Solomon and New Georgia Islands. He was killed in a plane crash near the Boone Monument, Mid- dlesboro, Kentucky. I-Ie is survived by his mother and father, Jennie M. and Alfred A. Syms, of San Antonio, Texas. YVILLIAM HENRY BALL Clam of 1936 Private First Class, Company G, 357th Infantry William Ball, captain of the baseball team in his senior year, was employed by the Bryant Chucking Grinder Company in Spring- field prior to entering the service in September, 1943. After receiving this training at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi, in June, 1944, he went overseas. He was seriously wounded while serving as an automatic rifleman with his company in France. Nineteen days after being wounded, Private Ball died in a hospital and was buried in the United States Military Cemetery at Andilly, France. His wife, Christine Lee Ball, and mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Allen D. Ball, reside in Ludlow, Vermont. TWELVE

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ff xxx f fra' ff 3:11, - -C xxx't ' f'- X Xxx -.i7 .1 - CHARLES STANLEY MURCH Class of 1938 Lieutenant, Squadron VR-7, Naval Air Transport Service Charles Murch left his position as assistant to the president of the Leon J. Barrett Company to enter the Naval Air Service as a Lieutenant He was assigned to the Pilot's Instructor's School at the Naval Base at Corpus Christi, Texas. After serving as an instructor of student pilots, he was ordered to the Naval Training School at the American Air Lines Training School at Fort Worth, Texas, for instrument flying training. Lieutenant Murch joined Squadron VR-7, an air transport squadron flying between Miami and Rio de Janeiro, at Miami, Florida, on January 8, 1944. He was killed when his airplane crashed shortly after take-off from Zandery Field, Dutch Guiana, on October 12, 1943. The cause of the crash was never fully determined. Ruth E. Murch, his wife, whom he married on April 4, 1942, resides in East Hampton, Connecticut. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry J. Murch, reside in Worcester, Massachusetts, where Lieu- tenant Murch was born on June 6, 1915. NORMAN PORTER STURTEVANT Class of 1939 Captain, 4th Ferrying Group, Air Transport Command The Northern Atlantic Ferrying Route was being flown by Captain Sturtevant in the capacity of navigator on October 16, 1944, when the airplane in which he was flying crashed on take-off at Gander, Newfoundland. All members of the crew were killed. The Captain was born and lived in New Bedford, Massachusetts, prior to entering the service as a Second Lieutenant on October 21, 1940. His wife, Miriam Carew Sturtevant, and his mother, Mrs. Harold T. Sturtevant, reside in New Bedford, Massachusetts. EDWARD FRANCIS JOHNSON Class Of 1941 Sergeant, Gunner, 8th Air Force Sergeant Johnson, the son of Mrs. Marion L. Johnson and of the late Harold P. Johnson, a former mayor of Woburn, Massa- chusetts, was awarded the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters for missions over Europe prior to November, 1943. He was on detached service with the Royal Air Force when he took part in the bombing of Pernemiinde, which was described by some strate- gists as Twenty minutes that saved the war. His last mission was flown over Berlin as a gunner with the Royal Air Force on November 26-27, 1943. His plane failed to return. His wife, Mrs. Virginia Johnson, and daughter, Jacquelyne E. Johnson, reside in Woburn as does his mother. FOURTEEN