Notizen zu dieser Person
Birth: Nov. 23, 1904
Phoenixville
Chester County
Pennsylvania, USA
Death: Feb. 19, 1970
Phoenixville
Chester County
Pennsylvania, USA
Frank died at the Veteran's Hospital in Coatesville. He's buried in Phoenixville at Morris.
The following is an excerpt from the Phoenixville paper. (no date recorded, but article says he is 38 years old so would be 1942-3. Midway Island was June 1942. Solomon Islands campaign was August 1942 - December 1943)
"Frank Koerner, in Navy for 11 years, tells of his experiences in Pacific War Theatre. Frank (Dutch) Koerner, Phoenixville, in the U.S. Navy for more than a decade, is home on a furlough. He is a survivor of the Pearl Harbor Disaster and Midway Island battle. Koerner, who is better known as "Dutch", left Phoenixville in May of 1923 to join the Navy and see the world. He traveled to all parts of the globe, saw the start of the war and saw action from the center of the Pacific stage. he is 38 and a chief gunner's mate. Koerner said he recognized the Jap planes as they approached Pearl Harbor on that fateful day, december 7, 1941, because he had seen them while he was in Japan three times for month-longstretches. He was at the Midway battle in June, and was with a convoy that screened the first landing of Marines in the Solomons. The sailor has been on every continent. For six years he saw duty in China -- and he reeled off a list of Chinese cities he had visited with the apparent fluency of a native. "I almost stayed there, " he said. "It's a nice place. I can talk the language and understand it a little. If I'd stayed two more years I'd have been elected mayor of Shanghai," he grinned. "Right now, I feel a little funny looking at the snow. I haven't seen any for so long. I'd like to be here for Christmas, but Uncle Sammy says that we've got to sacrifice, or that's what Roosevelt says, isn't it? Anyhow, I'm anxious to get back to my buddies in the Solomons."
Koerner, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. William Koerner, Phoenixville, will fly to the West Coast, where his ship is being repaired, from Philadelphia next week. "I learned how to be a bombardier, but I was on a ship when the war started, so there I stay. I'd rather be a bombardier -- more excitement!"
Seventeen men were killed the night his ship was hit by shellfire, Nov. 14. He hasn't been injured once. "We were with a lot of other U.S. ships that time -- the Boise among them. It was in that battle she got her six ships. We were out-numbered by Japs -- what a battle that was!" One of three men on watch Dec. 7 morning, he said that the most memorable thing in his life occurred when he recognized the enemy planes. "I was surprised at how level-headed I was. All of us were. We had been drilling for so long that we came on double, manned stations, and commenced firing as a routine matter. I didn't get to sleep until two days later when it got a little calmer. What with watching torpedoes and bombs, you couldn't think of sleeping." The sailor declined to make predictions. "I've been in the Navy a long time. I've learned that the important thing now is for me to get back and fight. When it's over we'll be told what happened." Not much time was available for interviews. "Ive got four squadrons of relatives to visit! I haven't been home in over two years!"
Four of his nephews are in the fighting forces. John M., son of Mr. and Mrs John Devlin, 348 Church Street, is in the Navy. In the Marines are William, son of Mr. and Mrs. William M. Wilson, Church Street, and Richard, son of Mr. and Mrs Henry Schlotterer, Norristown. Charles Wilson, another son of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, is in the Army Air Corps in England. A brother, Captain Charles Koerner, is also in the Army.
Family links:
Parents:
William Charles Koerner (1865 - 1927)
Marie R. Schumacher Koerner (1867 - 1918)
(findagrave.com)
.............
Karl
Held
