Lt Verne Perry Augustine
| Date of Interment or Death | 1942 |
|---|---|
| Location | Old Fairview |
| Section | B |
| Block-Lot-Grave | 8-2-3 |
Obituary
Wahpeton Airman Lost in Pacific – Ship Sinks in Java Sea
Navy Announces Loss of Lieutenant in Telegraph Message
Wahpeton Army Man Was On Aircraft Tender USS Langley When Japs Attacked Lieutenant Verne P. Augustine, son of Mrs. Elsie Augustine, Wahpeton, has been reported as missing in action by the United States navy. He was an army officer, piloting a bomber and was on the USS Langley when it was bombed and sunk Feb. 27.
He is the second Richland county man missing in action. Arnold Lund, son of Mrs. Nicholas Lund, Dwight, has been missing for several weeks. He was on the USS Shark, a submarine that the navy publicly announced as long overdue. The Shark was originally based in Manila, P.I.
Lieutenant August took part in the terrific battle over Java. Complete details of his part in the battle are not available at this time. He was on the Langley enroute to an undisclosed destination. The Langley carried supplies as well as a number of army and navy pilots, according to the navy announcement: Lieutenant Verne P. Augustine, Wahpeton has been lost in action in the Java Sea, a wire from the United States navy informed his mother, Mrs. Elsie Augustine, Saturday afternoon. Lieutenant Augustine, an army bomber pilot, was on the aircraft tender U.S.S. Langley, when that boat was sunk on Feb. 27 by Japanese bombers. He has been missing since that time.
The Langley was originally a collier and was converted to America’s first aircraft-carrier on March 20, 1922. It was converted to an aircraft tender in 1932 and normally carried but two observation planes. It was at Manila bay when the Japanese attacked and was removed to Java. There it serviced American planes in action in that area.
The Langley was sunk by its escorting destroyers after it was destroyed by Japanese bombs from the air. The Langley was not equipped with runways to put planes in the air to beat off the attack. The destroyer carried the survivors of the attack to a rendezvous with the USS Pecos, a tanker supplying the fleet. After the transfer of survivors to the Pecos, the Pecos started for Australia but was overtaken by Jap bombers and sunk. As the Pecos sank, Japanese planes machine-gunned the men swimming in the water.
Verne P. Augustine was born August 7, 1918, at St. Paul, but came to Wahpeton as a young boy. He graduated from public school and the Wahpeton high school. He had attended the University of North Dakota for three and a half years when he enlisted Feb. 6, 1941, in the army air corps. He took his CAA training at the University and his initial army training at Oxnard, Cal. Later he went to Randolph Field and Kelly Field for final training, receiving his commission on Sept 26, 1941, in the army air corps at Hamilton Field, Cal.
At the University, he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega and Kappa Kappa Psi Fraternities at the University. The last word received from him was on Feb. 22, 1942 from an undisclosed origin to his mother. Last Wahpetonian to see Verne Augustine was an old teammate and classmate of high school days, John Hermes, Wahpeton, who is with Battery F, 217th regiment. The boys met on a street in San Francisco, Dec. 16. Feb. 6, 1941, in the air corps, 1941, Hermes wrote the Farmer-Globe apparently the day that Lieutenant Augustine sailed.
Verne Augustine is survived by his mother, Mrs. Elsie Augustine and a sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Miller of Marshall, Minn. His father, P.O. Augustine, died at Wahpeton several years ago.
Headstone photograph(s)
Location
Old Fairview is located on the southern half of the cemetery grounds.