Gold star flags to kin of war dead

Date

• ca. 1942-ca. 1946

Publisher

Manitowoc, Wisconsin: Manitowoc Herald-Tribune

Summary

• Part of an undated clipping from the Manitowoc Herald-Times, probably published near or just after the end of World War II. Ten men representing Manitowoc County American Legion posts and the Manitowoc County voiture of the Forty-et-Eight organization pose on steps in front of a curtained archway in an unidentified building in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. The five men on the left, from the Forty-et-Eight, wear knee-length robes over their street clothes, with large bows at the neck. On the right, one man is dressed in a business suit and the other four wear American Legion uniforms. All wear Legion-style caps. The two men in the center hold a gold star service flag, and another gold star flag hangs on the arch above them. A caption beneath this picture explains that the Forty-et-Eight unit would distribute gold star flags to the next of kin of Manitowoc County service personnel who had died in World War II. They were presenting the flags to the five American Legion posts in the county, which in turn would give the flags to the families. During the war, many families displayed service flags that featured blue stars for living family members serving in the armed forces and gold stars for family members who had died in service. The “Forty-et-Eight” was a national honor society within the American Legion, established after World War I when American troops in France were often transported in boxcars, or "voitures," labeled "40/8" to designate a cargo capacity of 40 men or eight horses. Local units of the Forty-et-Eight were therefore called "voitures." Left to right: Forty-et-Eight members Roland C. Bleser, John Mezera, Peter Beitzel, T. C. Eckhart, Charles Urbanek; and American Legion members Dr. E. C. Cary (Reedsville post), Joseph Vanderbloemen (Two Rivers post), Edward Moakler (Manitowoc post), Edward Koutnik (Kiel post), Hebert Clayton (Valders post).