Skip to content
Donald Deithman
Lilah Crowe2021-01-13T15:58:10-06:00
- Name: Donald Deithman
- Location of Birth: Staples, Minnesota
- Date of Birth: September 11, 1919
- Date of Death: January 3, 1945
- Parents: Frank Deithman & Mary (Gross) Deithman
- High School and Class:
- College:
- Highest Rank: PFC (Private First Class)
- Branch: Army
- Other Branch:
- Date Sworn In: June 16, 1942
- Place Sworn In: Fort Snelling, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Date of Discharge:
- Place of Discharge:
-
Units and Locations:
Start Date |
End Date |
Unit(s) and Location(s) Served |
June 1942 |
|
Camp Rucker, Alabama |
April 1943 |
|
Nashville, Tennessee |
- Military Awards:
Combat Infantry Badge
- Military Highlights:
WW II Draft Registration Cards – 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947
State: Minnesota
Name: Donald Deithman
Race: White
Age: 21
Birth Date: September 11, 1919
Birth Place: Staples
Residence Place: Bovey, Itasca, Minnesota, USA
Registration Date: October 16, 1940
Employer: Farmer, Bovey, Itasca, Minnesota
Weight: 170
Height: 5-9
Complexion: Light
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Brown
Next of Kin: Miss Marey (sp) Deithman, Bovey, Itasca, Minnesota
Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota - January 5, 1945 - ""Pfc Donald Deithman, Route 2, Bovey, a member of the 81st "Wildcats" Infantry Division, has been awarded the Combat Infantry Badge. The Combat Infantry Badge is awarded for exemplary conduct and skill in action against the enemy. The Wildcat Division recently invaded the Southern Islands of the Japanese-held Palau group, 500 miles east of the Philippines. Donald is the son of Mrs. Mary Deithman."
Newspaper article: Itasca Iron News, Coleraine, Minnesota – 1 February 1945 – “Next Sunday afternoon at three o’clock at the Mt. Olive Lutheran church in Bovey there will be a memorial service for Pfc. Donald Deithman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Deithman of Lawrence township. The service will be conducted by Rev. Millard T. Wolfram, pastor of the church. Donald Deithman was inducted into the U.S. Army June 16, 1942 and was ordered to Camp Rucker, Alabama. In April he went to Nashville, Tenn., on maneuvers, and from there to Arizona for desert training. He spent some time at Camp San Luis Obispo in California and at Camp Beale and in June 1944 received his overseas orders. He was first shipped to Hawaii and later to the Palau Islands of the South Pacific. Shortly after the invasion of the Palau Islands by the Japs, Deithman was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge for exemplary conduct and skill against the enemy. He was with the 81st Fighting Wildcat, Infantry Division. On Peleliu, one of the islands of the Palau, he died the 3rd of January 1945, as a result of jaundice, which is one of the dread infections of the Islands. He was given a military funeral, the service read by Chaplain A. Griffing, and was buried in the U.S.A. Armed Forces cemetery on Peleliu Island in Grove 120, Row 8, Plot 6. Donald Deithman, who was born at Staples the 11th of September, 1919, moved to Bovey with his parents in 1918. On March 13, 1943, he was married to Miss Inez Wilkes. Surviving him are his widow and his year-old daughter, Bobby Ann, of Troy, Alabama; his parents; two brothers, Frank of Deer Creek, Fred of Oberon, N. Dak.; his sisters, Mrs. Chris Spoo, Mrs. Paul Leesberg and Mrs. Helmer Burres of Bovey, and Ethel Deithman of Minneapolis.”
Permanent burial was made in the Manila American Cemetery & Memorial, Manila Philippines (Block A, Row 13, Grave 14). The inscription on the white burial cross reads: DONALD DEITHMAN - PFC 321 INF 81 DIV - MINNESOTA JAN 3 1945.
- Wars Involved:
World War II
- MIA / POW:
- Civilian Life:
- Tribal Affiliation(s):
Page load link