Private
United States Army
Raymond V. Egel, son of George and Anna (Zeiher) Egel of Buffalo, Iowa, was born on 13 April 1908 in Buffalo.
Raymond attended Saint Ambrose Academy.
A month after his mother’s death, Raymond enlisted in the United States Army on 15 October 1942. Prior to enlisting, Raymond worked at Bettendorf’s Ordnance Steel Foundry. He took his basic training at Camp White, Oregon and from there he went to Camp Ord, California for additional training. His first assignment took him to Alaska’s Aleutian Island of Attu, the westernmost island, where he served in an Engineering unit. Attu is nearly 1,100 miles from the Alaskan mainland and 750 miles northeast of the northernmost of the Japanese Kurile Islands.
The 20 by 35 mile island was occupied by the Japanese in June of 1942, and was the site of some of the bloodiest fighting during World War II (second only to Iwo Jima), commencing on "D-Day," 11 May 1943. The Battle of Attu ended on 30 May with over 400 Japanese forces on the island annihilated.
In a June 1943 War Department telegram, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Zeiher were informed that their nephew, Raymond, was Killed-In-Action during the Battle of Attu on 29 May. For his actions during the Battle of Attu, Raymond was awarded the Purple Heart.
Raymond’s parents preceded him in death.
Private Raymond V. Egel, United States Army, was buried with his fallen brothers at Little Falls Cemetery on the Aleutian Island of Attu. On 4 October 1948, Raymond’s remains were shipped home to Buffalo, Iowa where he was buried next to his parents in Rose Hill Catholic Cemetery overlooking Buffalo.
Raymond Egel’s funeral service at Rose Hill Catholic Cemetery, Buffalo, Iowa
(Photo courtesy Patricia Drumm)
Source of Information:
1. Saint Ambrose Academy school newspaper, The Saint Ambrose Academy News, 28 September 1944, page 1.
2. Saint Ambrose Academy school newspaper, The Saint Ambrose Academy News, 12 October 1944, page 1.
3. Davenport Daily Times, 14 June 1943, page 4.
4. Davenport Democrat and Times, 15 June 1943, page 17.
5. Davenport Democrat and Times, 6 August 1943, page 9.
6. National Archives, World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel for the State of Iowa.
7. National World War II Memorial veteran’s registry; http://www.wwiimemorial.com/.
8. Letter and newspaper articles from Patricia Drumm on 30 March 2004. Pat’s father-in-law is Raymond’s cousin.
9. Letter and photo’s from Patricia Drumm on 7 November 2004.
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