MCFANN, HAROLD, JR.

[learn_more caption=”Click here to learn more”]The families of two more Montpelier boys have been saddened by death messages from the War Department during the past week.

Mr. and Mrs. Harold McFann of Gary, Ind. received word that their son, 2nd Lt. Harold McFann Jr., died at Gardner Field, Calif., following a crash on the West Coast last Thursday [September 28, 1944].

Lt. McFann, who began air training in March 1943, and received his wings and commission as a Marine Flier at Corpus Christi, Tex., after nine months in the Pacific as a Navy corpsman attached to the Marine Raiders, was at a replacement center on the coast preparing for a second tour of combat duty, this time in the air, when the crash occurred.

The government communication gave no details of the mishap. He had been thrice decorated for gallantry and heroism in his former combat duties. He was born and spent his boyhood days in Montpelier and was the grandson of Mrs. Emma Arehart. Funeral services were held at Gary Wednesday afternoon at 1:30.

He was killed when his plane crashed during a take-off after an emergency landing at Gardner Field, Cal., resulting from engine trouble. He is survived by five brothers, two of whom are in the service, and one sister, and his wife Dorothy.