Wally's Salt Lake Tribune Obituary

(a photocopy of the actual obituary will be added at a later date)
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, SATURDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 25, 1944, PAGE THIRTEEN

BENJAMIN SEAMAN KILLED IN PACIFIC

Wallace Arnold Barney, A R M 3/c, USN, was killed in action in the Pacific area, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Royal Barney, Benjamin, Utah county, learned Friday.

A native of Escalante, he was born May 22, 1920, and was educated in Escalante and North Cache high schools.  He entered the navy in 1942 and trained in Florida, Washington and California prior to going overseas.

Survivors include his parents; eight sisters, Mrs. Juanita Alvey and Miss Nina Mae Barney, Escalante; Miss Evelyn Barney, S 2/c, WAVES, Coronado, Cal.; Mrs. Fern Ball, Burlington, Ala.; Cherril, Jean, Carla and Clair Barney, Benjamin; three brothers, Lendon K. Barney, USN; Howard and Terry Barney, Benjamin, and two grandparents, Mrs. Lucy E. Barney, Escalante, and W. M. Moosman, Smithfield.


Now that I have children of my own who are about the age that Wally was when he was killed, I can more fully appreciate the absolute anguish that my Grandparents and Wally's  brothers and sisters must have felt upon receiving the news of Wally's Death.

Wally's memorial marker in the Springville, Utah, Evergreen Cemetery. Note: The "DFC-PH" engraved on his marker indicates he was awarded the  "Distinguished Flying Cross" and "Purple Heart". ARM3 stands for "Aviation Radioman 3rd Class"

The application for Wally's Grave Marker. Looks like someone checked all the details.

Wallys name is also one of the 36,285 names inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery in Manila, Phillippines

Entry at the American Battle Monuments Commission stating

that Wally is listed on the Tablets of the Missing. If anyone happens to be in Manila some time, please take a picture of Wally's name on the tablets and send it to me for posting on this blog.

The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines occupies 152 acres on a prominent plateau, visible at a distance from the east, south and west. It contains the largest number of graves of our military dead of World War II, a total of 17,201, most of whom lost their lives in operations in New Guinea and the Philippines. The headstones are aligned in 11 plots forming a generally circular pattern, set among masses of a wide variety of tropical trees and shrubbery.

Soldier playing taps at the Tablets of the Missing
 Manila Cemetery