Manning (THNS) ----S/Sgt. L. G. Strathman, whose body was recovered from the wreckage of an army Liberator at the base of Seward peninsula in Alaska, was buried in the army post cemetery at Anchorage, Alaska, according to a letter received by Sgt. Strathman's parents, Mr. and Mrs., Lee Strathman, from Lieutenant Robert D. Moss of Chicago, who was co-pilot on the plane.
Six of the 12 men who were in the ill-fated plane which exploded 20,000 feet in the air
over ice-covered Mount Illiamna, September 3, Parachuted to safety. The bodies of three
officers and two enlisted men have been found, leaving one man unaccounted for.
Sgt. Strathman, known to his friends as "Gene", remained at his post as radio operator
and went down with the burning plane.
He had never mentioned the number of missions that he had been on over enemy
territory, but, he was a member of the famous "I Bombed Japan Club". He liked flying and
thought it was the best branch of the service.
Sgt. Strathman was born at Manning, Iowa, March 29, 1923. He attended the Manning schools and was graduated in 1941. During his high school days, he was a member of the "Bulldog" championship! football and basketball teams.
Enlisting in the Army Air Corps in February 1943, he left Manning for training at Sheppard
Field, Texas. Later, he was graduated from gunnery school at Kingman, Arizona, and from
radio school at Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In December, 1943, he was sent to Salt Lake City, Utah,
then to Langley Field, Virginia, and thence to Seattle, Washington, where he spent about a week
before being sent to Anchorage, Alaska, where he was stationed for two months. After that,
he was sent to the Aleutian Islands, where he was stationed at the time of his death.
Sgt. Strathman was due for a leave just before starting for Alaska. His leave was
scheduled to begin on a Thursday morning. But, on the preceding Wednesday, he was
assigned to an entirely new crew to act as radio operator because the operator of that
particular crew was ill and unable to go, with his outfit. This is one reason that friends
here thought the group on the plane might have been returning to the United States on
leave.
Sgt. Strathman is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lee Strathman, two sisters, Joyce and Donna. Rae, and a brother, Billy, all at home.