Howard W. Bates, a paratrooper, was graduated from Clinton (Ind.) High School and was a student at Ball State Teachers College, Muncie, Indiana at the time he entered the service in March, 1943. He received his basic training in California and was transferred to Pasadena Junior College and later to the University of Kentucky, where he specialized in engineering. He went to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and entered the paratroops, training at Fort Benning, Ga. He went overseas in September 1944. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a Private in HQ 2 Company, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. He died on January 7, 1945 and is now buried in Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Hombourg, Belgium.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, 03 February 1945