But the obit Jim captured from the newspaper site was a poor scan so I asked another Manning helper to see if she could find another obit in a different newspaper...some of which are membership only sites that she pays to gain access to.
I often get suggestions by people with good intentions on how I should do this or do that or search here or search there but they don't realize that I've pretty much used every tactic and source to get information and help on the myriad of Manning history projects I work on.
What I need are more Manning connected folks to do some of the leg-work for me and help me, but for 50+ years I've found out that this generally just doesn't happen...so I plug away as best I can and am SO fortunate for the few folks who do help me.
But I want get confirmation from a relative or someone who knew Forrest that the sailor back left is Forrest Wiese...even though it was misspelled Weiss on the picture and in the scrapbook.
For the first 2 men in the front row - read the information below from the lady who sent me the picture from Texas.
January 19, 2024
Hi Dave! Thanks for reaching out to me! First of all, did I match Forrest's picture to his name? Is that the man you know
as Forrest? There's always a chance I get someone's
picture added to the wrong person, but I try not to do that. I am not related to him.
I bought these photos off eBay. There were 11 photos of groups of Navy guys on
a ship. Luckily the names were written under all of them, so I did a little
research and all of the names were showing up on the ship, Roamer.
I bought them from a fellow in Plainsboro, New Jersey.
I buy old photos from eBay with the names of the people written on them and I figure out who they are.
January 20, 2024
All of these men were from the WWII Navy ship called ROAMER. I
researched on ancestry.com their collection of muster rolls for that ship. I
found names for the majority of the men in the photos.
Some men already had photos on ancestry or findagrave,
so they were easy to match. I knew those were the correct people in the Navy photos I received.
As you can see in the photo I posted, Forrest's last
name is not spelled correctly. The original owner of these pics spelled a few
names wrong on his pictures. There was no other Wiese on the muster rolls other
than Forrest. There was also no one on the rolls named "Weiss" or
anything similar to that. I assumed the owner of the pics just spelled Forrest's last name wrong.
One day someone will come along and tell me that's definitely
Forrest or it's not. If it's not, I'll gladly delete my picture from his Findagrave memorial.
If it is him, I would like to return it to a family member. There's
a satisfaction in returning photos to family members, so I spend quite a bit of
money buying these pics and researching their identities to get them back to family.
January 21, 2024
I'll mail it to you tomorrow. It's a small picture, so it will only cost very little. I'll pay for the shipping, so no need to refund me. Please
let me know your address.
Two of the men in the picture have common last names, so unfortunately I'm not sure which one was correct.
Here's what I figured out:
Back: left is Forrest Wiese, next to him is Ray Herman Moore (1923-1984)
Front: The first man is either Ronald William Thompson or Gordon Albert Thompson
The middle guy in the front is either Charles Arthur Thomas, Richard Markham Thomas, or Hamilton Samuel Thomas
The 3rd guy on the front row is Woodrow Wilson Draper 1913-1958
The pictures had been in a photo album and the person on ebay
had 2 or 3 pages of the photo album with the pictures still glued on them for
sale. I cut out each picture with the black paper still glued to the picture
and I also cut out the names of each guy in the pictures. The same names are
written on the back of the picture (spelled wrong also).
January 22, 2024
I just put it in my outgoing mail at work. I'm hoping you get it in a few days.
What I find interesting and disappointing is that a total stranger will help me with Manning history over the Internet but it's generally crickets from those who lived here or their ancestors lived here...but I've just accepted it over the decades and since 1996 when I created my web page.
Another reason for posting this picture is to show how much difficulty I have in finding military pictures for the Manning Veterans' book and getting information from family members about the Veteran in their family.
And finally, another reason why I'm glad I was able to get the original photo is that Forrest married my relative, Virginia Greteman.
She was the daughter of Otto & Alma (Hansen) Greteman.
Alma was the daughter of August & Emma (Kusel) Hansen.
I have even more connections: Virginia & my mother, Dorothy, were 1941 classmates. Virginia was one of my mother's bridesmaids.
So all of these connections are also why I like to work on Manning history - because of all of the connections I have through my family/ancestors.
Sadly, Forrest & Virginia's only living child is a daughter, their three boys are also deceased.
Hopefully I'll get some help with this picture and some military information for Forrest to add to the Manning Veterans book.
Thanks,
Dave
Mr. Wiese, 80, died of lung cancer Saturday, May 31, 1997, at St. Anthony Nursing Home in Carroll.
Monsignor James Lafferty will officiate the Mass.
Lector will be Mr. Wiese's son, Lynn Wiese. Mass servers will be Matt Ricke, Justin Hoffman, and Alex Vonnahme. Gift bearers will be Lyndsay Wiese, Ashley Tegels, and Austin Tegels. Eucharistic ministers will be Jerry Tegels, Frank Testroet, and Anita Tegels.
Casket bearers will be George Brinks, Archie Ricke, Lenus Schulte, Ron Leiting, Tony Muhlbauer, and Neil Leiting.
Military honors will be conducted by Ehlers-Gerken American Legion Post No. 694 of Arcadia.
Burial will be in St. John Cemetery at Arcadia. Visitation will begin at 2:30 and a rosary will be recited at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Twit Funeral Home in Carroll. A vigil service will be held at 7:30, followed by another rosary at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Carroll Area Hospice and left at the funeral home.
Born October 20, 1916, at Westside, he was a son of Walter and Anna (Rosengren) Wiese and attended Westside High School.
During World War II, Mr. Wiese served in the Navy in the Pacific Theater.
He and Virginia Greteman were married May 15, 1945, at Carroll by the Rev. Arthur Poeckes.
Mr. Wiese was a retired farmer and he also worked for the Arcadia Cooperative Elevator.
He was a member of St. John Parish in Arcadia and the Ehlers-Gerken American Legion Post No. 694 of Arcadia.
Survivors include his wife, Virginia, of Arcadia; two sons: Lon Wiese and his wife, Barbara, of Greenwell Springs, Louisiana; and Lynn Wiese and his wife, Carol, of Iowa Falls; a daughter, Shelley Tegels, and her husband, Jerry, of Ankeny; eight grandchildren; two sisters: Loretta Arduser of Littleton, Colorado; and Lorraine Wattley of Chicago, Illinois; and a brother, Warren Wiese, of Manilla.
He was preceded in death by his parents; two sons: Terry and Brent Wiese; two brothers: Kenneth Wiese and one in infancy; and two brothers-in-law: Jim Arduser and Tom Wattley.