Harold Brooks Houston
HAROLD BROOKS HOUSTON, son of PEARL BROOKS and LESTER ARTHUR HOUSTON, was born January 4, 1917 in Denmark, Lee, Iowa,2432 and died March 17, 1945 in Phillippines.4542
Military Service
Harold B. Houston
- was a US Army Veteran of World War II9955
Obituaries
Vandalia Leader, April 5, 194512473
"HE IS NOT GONE—HE IS JUST AWAY"
Harold Brooks Houston was born January 4, 1917 at Denmark, Iowa, the second child of Mr. and Mrs. L. A. Houston, and died of injuries received on the field of battle at Mindanao March 17, 1945 at the age of 28. While he was still a small child, the Houstons moved to Vandalia, Mo., where Harold attended public school, graduating from high school with honors in 1934. After graduation he worked in the Vandalia brick yards. He attended Drury College in Springfield, Mo., for two years. In 1939 he went to Tacoma, Washington where he worked as a hotel clerk until his induction into the army in April, 1941. March 2, 1942, he sailed for overseas duty and had gone through many of the worst battles in the South Pacific. He had been stationed at Australia, New Guinea, the Dutch East Indies and recently landed with the 41st Infantry division under Maj. General Does, on the Philippines. He had received several medals for meritorious conduct on the field of battle, including the Purple Heart and the Bronze Medal and was promoted to the rank of Captain in the fall of 1944.
On March 17, 1944 Capt. Houston married Miss Dorothy Piggott of Melbourne, Australia, who is expected to arrive in the United States at any time now. Besides his dearly beloved wife, he leaves to mourn his passing, his father, L. A. Houston of Vandalia, Mo., two sisters, Mrs. J. T. Goodman of Vandalia and Mrs. Lee Trott of Bellingham, Washington; an aunt, Miss Lora Houston of Chicago; a small nephew, Ricky Trott and a little niece, Marya Lee Trott, whom he had never seen, besides other relatives and friends.
But the Harold we knew and loved best is not gone. THe thing and way of life men call war, buried his fine, strong, clean young body on an island in the South Pacific, but the Harold we loved is with us and beside us—laughing, joking, playing the game of life in the same way he played his favorite game of tennis—fair and clean and square; doing as best he could whatever jot it was his to do whether in this land he loved or fighting on far away battle fronts for the land, the people, and the God he loved. And from the remembrance of the strength and manhood that was his and the gallant spirit that could never be buried, we who taste of the sorrows of war pass on the message that is left us by these, our boys—"We all have to die some time somewhere, but we can not all doe for something—a cause and a way of life.'
Burlington Hawk-Eye Gazette, April 12, 19454542
Former Denmark Boy Killed
Denmark, Ia.—Harold Houston, 28, of Vandalia, Mo., was killed in the Philippines on March 17, according to word reaching Mary E. Houston. He was a native of Denmark. His father, Lester Houston, for a time was operator of the farm now owned by Francis Hasenclever.
News Tribune, June 14, 194510035
Receive Word Of Tacoman's Death In P. I.
Word has been received in Tacoma of the death of Capt. Harold B. Houston, nephew of George E. Thompson, Fairmont hotel, who died on Mindanao after receiving battle wounds on March 16. A member of the 163rd infantry, Capt. Houston rose from the ranks as a private to captain in October, 1941.
Born in Iowa, Houston came to Tacoma in 1938 after graduating from Drury college, Springfield, Mo. He was a clerk in the Fairmont hotel until 1940, when he joined the Northern Pacific railroad as a trainman. He was inducted into the army in 1941 and went overseas with the 41st division.
He is survived by his father, G.. E. Thompson, Vandalia, Mo., and his wife, Dorothy, whom he married while on duty in Melbourne, Australia. Other survivors are two sisters, Mrs. J. T. Goodman, Vandalia, Mo., and Mrs. Lee Trott, Bellingham, and an aunt, Lora Houston, Chicago.
Census Records
| Date | Location | Enumerated Names |
|---|---|---|
| January 12, 19203413 | Fort Madison, Lee, Iowa |
|
| April 15, 19304544 | Vandalia, Audrain, Missouri |
|
