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| AR 2/C Ordien Herr, on left, served in Torpedo Squadron 11 based in Guadalcanal. His brothers Eugene and LeRoy also lost their lives serving their country. http://vetaffairs.sd.gov/sdwwiimemorial/SubPages/profiles/Display.asp?P=817 http://vetaffairs.sd.gov/sdwwiimemorial/SubPages/profiles/Display.asp?P=815 http://vetaffairs.sd.gov/sdwwiimemorial/SubPages/profiles/Display.asp?P=816 https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=39725433 |
Ordien Fenmore Herr never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on October 31, 1917 in South Dakota. His mother Mannie was born in Germany and his father Albert was from Wisconsin (with parents from Germany). His father worked as a farmer. Ordien had four younger brothers. At least three of them served in the military. By 1940 Ordien had completed an accounting degree from Chicago Business College and lived away from home. He had worked on building the Grand Coulee Dam.
Ordien enlisted in the navy on December 19, 1941. He was wounded in 1942 but remained in the navy. He became an aviation radioman 2nd class in Torpedo Squadron 11. At the time Petty Officer Herr was with the squadron, it was stationed at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal equipped with TBF Avengers. He lost his life on June 8, 1943 when his plane crashed into the sea.
His brother Eugene joined the navy in January 1943. He became a radioman 2nd class and served on destroyers including the USS Johnston. Johnston was sunk at the Battle of Samar when it attacked an unexpected superior Japanese force of battleships and cruisers. Eugene survived the sinking but died after two days in the water from exhaustion and exposure on October 25, 1944.
His brother LeRoy joined the US Naval Air Force on June 10, 1942. He completed 38 missions during the war. When the war ended he was still short some flight time needed before he could be discharged. With 12 hours lacking, he crashed his PV-1 Ventura bomber while flying over Catalina Island on September 26, 1945. He left behind a widow and a baby daughter born after he died.
Ordien's grave is at Bethany Cemetery in South Dakota.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
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