| Merle J. Wagner,
31 year old sailor is the first reported
Collinsville casualty of the present war
according to notification received Tuesday night
by his parents, Mr. And Mrs. William F. Wagner,
214 South Center street. A telegram from the Navy
department informed them their son lost his life
at Pearl Harbor December 7, Mrs. Wagner said. Previously the Wagners had
learned from their son’s wife in San Diego,
Calif., that she had received official
notification he was missing.
Wagner, who was
born and raised in Collinsville, was aboard the
U.S.S. Arizona. He was a seasoned sailor, having
first joined when he was 17 years old.
Another
Collinsville sailor, Billy Mathias, was wounded
during the attack on Pearl Harbor but he was not
seriously hurt. He talked by telephone early
Sunday to his parents, Mr. And Mrs. William
Mathias, Sr., 258 Seminary street.
Merle Wagner last
visited Collinsville three years ago. He served
in the Navy eight years after joining when he was
17 years of age with the written consent of his
parents. He stayed out a couple of years but
rejoined three years ago. His wife is a
Californian.
Wagner was born
here August 26, 1911, and attended SS Peter and
Paul’s Catholic School. A brother, Harold
lives in Kirkwood, Mo. Harold formerly was
employed as a mechanic at the Lowe Garage which
operated some years ago at 121 North Center
street.
Wagner’s
father has been employed by the Lumaghi Coal
Company for more than 30 years.
A telegram Friday
and the telephone call at 1 a.m. Sunday from San
Francisco brought word to Mr. And Mrs. Mathias
that their son was safe. He was on the U.S.S.
Shaw which was sunk December 7 at Pearl Harbor.
In his telephone
conversation he told his parents that he was
aboard the Shaw when the bombing started and
after receiving a slight wound in one arm was
taken off the ship for medical attention. Some 15
minutes later the Shaw went down, he said.
He was, of course,
unable to explain how he got to San Francisco,
but Mr. And Mrs. Mathias believe that he was one
of the men brought in on a hospital ship. He
could not tell them what ship he will be on now
and asked them to continue sending his mail to
the Shaw as he could be traced from that address.
Mathias has been
in the Navy more than three years.
Another local
sailor to call his mother by telephone during the
past week was Walton Benyr, son of Mrs. Elmira
Benyr, 427 North Morrison avenue. He called
Friday afternoon from San Francisco. In reply to
a question by his mother as to whether or not he
had been wounded, young Benyr said he was not
permitted to talk about that over the telephone.
Two letters and a
post card received by Mrs. Benyr from Pearl
Harbor after the attack indicated that her son
was uninjured as did a telegram she received from
San Francisco Saturday.
Word also was
received during the past week from James E.
Oberto who was aboard the target ship Utah which
was sunk. In letters to his father and mother he
said he was all right and indicated he was
uninjured.
|
Local Sailor
Lost Life in Jap Attack
