Lewis E. Myers, Junior, World War II CasualtyPorter County Data on World War II Casualties . . . .
Lewis Edwin Myers, Junior
Lieutenant, US Navy Reserve
Date of Death: Circa February 29, 1944
Cause of Death: Missing in Action (submarine Trout failed to return to
port, presumed sunk by Japanese)
Date of Enlistment: 1940
Monument: Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii
Awards: Purple Heart
Hometown: Valparaiso
Newspaper Notices:
Lt. Lewis Myers Of Navy Missing, Parents Learn
Lieut. Lewis E. Myers, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis E. Myers, Sr., of Chicago,
formerly of Valparaiso, has been reported missing in action by the Navy
department, it was learned today.
Word to this effect was received here Monday by Dr. and Mrs. George R. Douglas
from the Myers home in Chicago.
No details of the casualty or where it occurred are yet available because such
information would divulge a military secret the telegram from the Navy
Department to the parents stated. It was known that Lieut. Myers was formerly
assigned to a submarine.
The young naval officer was born in Valparaiso and lived here until he was 15
years of age.
His father, Lewis E. Myers, Sr., was at one time head of the Chautauqua
Manufacturing company, one of the city's leading industries for many years.
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Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana;
May 2, 1944; Volume 17, Page 1, Column 1
Lt. L. Myers Lost On U. S. Sub Trout
Lieut. Lewis Edwin Myers, Jr., U. S. N., reported missing in action last April
28, was a member of the crew of the U. S. submarine Trout, whose loss the
Navy announced last Saturday.
This was the word received today by The Vidette-Messenger from Mr. and Mrs.
Lewis E. Myers, Sr., of Chicago, parents of the youth, and former Valparaiso
residents.
With the loss of the Trout officially reported, it is expected Lt. Myers name
will soon appear in the government's casualty list.
Lt. Myers naval record shows he enlisted as a midshipman in 1940 after his
graduation from the University of Chicago. He was assigned to the USS
Arkansas, and later to the USNR school of gunnery a the Naval Academy,
Annapolis, where he was commissioned an ensign on May 15, 1941.
Upon his graduation he was assigned to the USS Little. After further
training at the Higgins plant at New Orleans in landing boat operations and
again at Annapolis in special gunnery, he was elevated to Lieutenant, junior
grade, and then to lieutenant.
As a member of the crew of the USS Little he participated in the Tulagi,
Guadalcanal and Solomon Islands campaigns. When the Little was sunk Lt.
Myers was the last survivor to leave the ship and was rescued off Guadalcanal
after swimming seven hours.
On his way back to the U. S. Lieut. Myers asked at Pearl Harbor for submarine
duty. After completing his training at New London he was ordered to a base in
Australia. He was later assigned to the Trout, whose loss was reported on
July 22.
Lt. Myers spent 14 years in Valparaiso where his father operated the Lewis E.
Myers Manufacturing company.
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Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana;
July 29, 1944; Volume 18, Page 1, Column 6
Return to
List of
Porter County World War II Casualties
Information abstracted and transcribed by Steven R. Shook