T. Sgt. Theodore C Bansemer

T. Sgt. Co. A, 7th Inf. World War 2, buried in Italy"

S./Sgt. Theodore Bansemer was killed in action in Italy on Monday, January 31, 1944. His death followed by about seven weeks the death of his brother, Orville Bansemer, a member of the United States Navy, in an automobile accident in California.

Theodore, who was a machine gunner and rifleman, was in the north African invasion, landing at Casablanca under fire. He was in the first wave of the Sicilian invasion with the Fifth. He entered the armed services from California, and had been in the army for about three years. He was assistant manager of a five-and ten-cent store on the coast before going into the army. Inducted at Camp Robers, Calif., Theodore was stationed first at Ft. Ord, then at Ft. Lewis, Wash., and finally at Camp Pickett, Va., before going overseas in October, 1942.

Theodore and Sgt. Vernon Buller were in the same outfit, although not in the same company. It was Theodore who first gave the news that Vernon had lost his life in Italy.

Theodore was 26 years of age. He was born in Halstead on October 15, 1917. Besides his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Bansemer, he leaves one sister, Beatrice, and two brothers, Herman, in the submarine service of the U. S. Navy, and Victor, a student in the Halstead high school; many other relatives and a host of friends. His parents, brothers and sister have the sympathy of their whole community in their bereavement, the second in their family in so short a time.