PURPLE HEART FOR HOUSKEN
Turret Gunner Was Hit By Flak; Now in Hospital in Italy.
Sgt. Wayne J. Housken, of Duncombe, a brother of Mrs. Lloyd A. Johnson of near this city, has been awarded the Purple Heart medal for wounds received in action in the Italian theater, according to word received here by his sister.
Sergeant Housken, a turret gunner with a heavy bomber squadron, suffered a broken leg when hit by “flak” while on a combat mission.
In the first letter received from him in seven weeks, he stated that he was in a hospital in Italy and expected to be there for medical treatment for several more weeks.
Sergeant Housken has been in service for nearly four years. A year ago last December he was transferred overseas for action with the bombing squadron.
Source: Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA - Feb. 26, 1944
Wayne Jensen Housken was born Mar. 21, 1920 to Julius Martin and Ella Jensen Housken. He died Jan. 11, 2007 and is buried in Washington Cemetery, Duncombe, IA.
Wayne served in World War II with the U.S. Army Air Corps as a tail gunner in a B-24 Liberator bomber in the European and Asian Theatres of action.
Source: ancestry.com
