Black Hawk County

Sgt. Harold James Bean

 

 

 

3 WATERLOO MEN KILLED IN ACTION

Sgt. Harold James Bean, 24, Friday afternoon was reported killed in action in France Jan. 5, in a telegram from the war department received by his wife, who lives at 303 Iowa street.

Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Friday, January 19, 1945, Page 1

Sgt. Bean Killed in Action
Shortly After He Landed

No Direct Word From Him Since Going Overseas.

Sgt. Harold James Bean, 24, who Friday was reported killed in action Jan. 5 in France, had not been heard from since he visited here in November while on a two-day pass before going overseas.

The telegram received by his wife and son, Robert James, who reside at 306 Iowa street, was the only news received concerning him with the exception of a government form giving his APO number.

Sergeant Bean trained with the Waterloo company of the national guard and later was inducted into service in July, 1943, training at Camp Adair, Ore., and Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo., before going overseas.

He was born Aug. 7, 1920, in Reinbeck, Ia., the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Bean, and attended school there. After the death of his mother in September, 1930, he moved to Waterloo with his father. His father died in 1936.

On Jan. 5, 1941, he married Mary Graff, of Waterloo. He was employed by the John Deere Tractor Co., five years before entering service.

Besides his wife and son he is survived by four sisters, Mrs. Charles Denison, Marshalltown, Ia.; Margaret Bean, Farmington, Ia.; Mrs. Jake Molhoek, 826 Franklin street; and Mrs. Walter Pitts, 37 Garden avenue, both of Waterloo; also three brothers, Chief Petty Officer Mervin W. Bean, somewhere in the Pacific, and Clyde, of Onawa, Ia.; and Charles, of Marshalltown.

Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Sunday, January 21, 1945, Page 3 (photo included)

Service News

The Purple Heart has been awarded posthumously to Sgt. Harold James Bean, 24, who was killed in action Jan. 5 in France, according to word received by his wife and son, Robert, who reside at 306 Iowa street.

Sergeant Bean trained with the Waterloo company of the national guard and was later inducted into service in July, 1943, training at Camp Adair, Ore., and Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo., before going overseas in November.

Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Friday, March 08, 1945, Page 11

Sgt. Harold James Bean died Jan. 5, 1945 is buried in Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial, Saint Avold, France and memorialized in Riverside Cemetery, Marshalltown, IA. He was first buried at Temporary American Military Cemetery, Hochfelden, France.

Source: ancestry.com; fieldsofhonordatabase.com