Kossuth County

Priv. Lyle E. Fitch

Died 15 May 1945

Picture published Mason City Globe-Gazette, 14 Jun 1945

 

Private Lyle E. Fitch Now in Hawaiian Isles

A member of the contingent which left Algona on February 3, 1942, Private Lyle E. Fitch is now station on the Island of Oahu, Hawaiian Islands. Following his induction, he was assigned to Camp Wolters, Texas, where he received his preliminary training. Later he was transferred to Angel Island, off the west coast, and where he was stationed but a short time before going to Oahu Island. He is the son of Ed Fitch and Mrs. P. W. Hanson, both of the Sexton neighborhood.

Source: Algona Upper Des Moines, November 3, 1942 (photo included)

SEXTON NEWS 
Ed Fitch received a telegram Sunday morning from the War Department that his son, Pvt. Lyle Fitch was killed in action in South Pacific, May 15.

Source: Algona Upper Des Moines, June 7, 1945

KILLED ON LUZON -- Pfc. Lyle Fitch, son of Mrs P.W. Hausen of Algona, was killed in action on Luzon after 4 1/2 years of service. He was in the infantry and never at home on furlough. He had been in the Pacific area since receiving 3 months basic training in the United States.

Source: Mason City Globe-Gazette, June 14, 1945 (photo included)

Memorial service for Priv. Lyle Fitch will be held at 2:30 p.m. in the First Lutheran Church in Algona. Killed on Luzon May 15, Fitch was buried with full military honors at a cemetery in Santa Barbara. Recently his mother received a letter from Private Fitch’s buddy, Cpl. Andrew G. Miller, from Cedar Rapids.  Corporal Miller enclosed a picture he had taken of the cemetery, surrounded by palm trees, indicating Private Fitch’s grave. Lyle’s whole division, the 25th attended the funeral on Luzon.

Source: Algona Upper Des Moines, August 9, 1945 (photo included)

80 Kossuth Men Officially Listed As Casualties In War  
FIRST RELEASE OF STATE HISTORICAL DEATH SUMMARIES  

Eighty men from Kossuth county lost their lives while in the service of their country in World War II.   

KOSSUTH'S WAR DEAD. 

Fitch, Lyle E., Pfc.
Killed in action in Pacific, May 15, 1945.
Mother:  Mrs. Rosa H. Hansen, Rt. 1, Algona, Ia.

Source: The Algona Upper DesMoines, Tuesday, January 22, 1946 – page 7.

Lyle Edward Fitch was born Sept. 7, 1917 to Edward and Rosa Hix Fitch. He died May 15, 1945 and is buried in East Lawn Cemetery, Algona, IA.

Pvt. Fitch served in World War II with the U.S. Army 35th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division.

Source: ancestry.com