Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Help Finding More About 3 Brothers Killed In WW2

The three Mrace brothers are buried in the Ely Cemetery in Ely Minnesota.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/143771215/albin-john-mrace
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/121080569/anton-a-mrace
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/121077338 
Many of you may regularly read my blog where I write about one of the WW2 fallen on his 100th birthday.

I am looking for help for my upcoming May 15 profile of Albin Mrace. He and two of his brothers were all killed during the war.

While many families lost two sons, losing three or more was thankfully not that common. One would think it would have been newsworthy. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any newspaper articles (on newspapers.com) about the Mrace brothers more than a paragraph long. I also have not been able to find any photos of these men.

I would be most grateful if anyone would be able to find more about the Mrace brothers and share it with me. Here is what I already know:

Albin Mrace was born on May 15, 1919 in Ely, Minnesota. His Slovenian speaking parents Anton and Mary were both born in what became Yugoslavia. They came to America in 1904/1905. His father worked as an iron minor. Albin had two older brothers (Anton and Frank), an older sister, and three younger brothers - Louis, Joseph, and Rudolph. All have passed on.

Albin enlisted enlisted in the US Navy in September 1937. By 1941 he was a water tender second class on the battleship USS West Virginia.

West Virginia was sunk by seven torpedoes and two bombs during the Japanese Pearl Harbor surprise attack on December 7, 1941. Quick fire control action counter-flooded the ship so it didn't capsize like the Oklahoma. As a water tender, Albin was likely below decks and may have been killed from the torpedoes or in the effort to counter-flood the ship. The crew tried to fight the fires until 2 pm when they finally abandoned ship. Over 100 West Virginia sailors were killed in the attack including Albin Mrace. 

Brother Anton, 7 years his senior, was drafted into the army in March 1942. His brother Frank, 4 years his senior, also joined the army (date unknown). Anton served as a TEC 4 in the medical department of the 358th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division (nicknamed "Tough Hombres") while Frank became a staff sergeant in the 289th Field Artillery Battalion.

The 90th ID landed on Utah Beach on D-Day and D+1. Anton was killed in action on July 23, 1944 while his regiment was still in Normandy. The 289th FAB was sent to the Pacific. Frank was killed in action on April 10, 1945.

All three brothers are buried at Ely Cemetery in Ely, Minnesota.

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