Early Life and Enlistment
George William Bieri was born on April 6, 1919, on a farm north of Oneida, Kansas, the second son of Jonathan and Anna Bieri. He graduated from Oneida Rural High School in 1938 and soon afterward joined his father in farming. However, by January 1939, George had a new calling. He enlisted in the United States Navy, launching a career of dedicated military service that would span nearly five years and take him across the Pacific Ocean during one of the most pivotal conflicts in world history.
George began his naval career with a four-month training course in Chicago. Upon completion, he was assigned to active duty and quickly took to the life of a seaman. By mid-1940, George was serving aboard the light cruiser USS Detroit, then stationed in Honolulu. His time on the Detroit brought him into the thick of the growing tensions in the Pacific, and he would remain there through the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Service During World War II
As the United States entered World War II, George Bieri continued to serve with distinction. Throughout 1941 and early 1942, he was stationed in the Pacific theater alongside his brother, Ira Bieri, also a Navy electrician. News articles noted that both brothers were present in the Hawaiian Islands during the Pearl Harbor attack and that George remained in the war zone afterward. In July 1942, George returned home briefly to recover from an appendectomy, staying with his sister Ruby and her husband, Dr. C.B. Hash, in Seneca.
By late 1942, George had resumed active duty. A letter published in the Sabetha Herald in October 1942 recounted a joyful meeting between George and two fellow Kansans — Lloyd Logerwell of Sabetha and Bob Baugh of Bern — who unexpectedly encountered George while serving in the Pacific. The letter highlighted George’s dedication, good humor, and the camaraderie he shared with those from his home region.
In December 1942, George was assigned to a sub chaser on the East Coast before receiving new orders. By early 1943, his name appeared on the muster rolls of the USS Liscombe Bay (CVE-56), a newly launched escort aircraft carrier. As a Petty Officer First Class and electrician’s mate, George played a critical role in maintaining the ship’s power systems and supporting flight operations.
The Loss of the USS Liscombe Bay
In November 1943, George Bieri was part of the American naval force supporting Operation Galvanic, the assault on the Gilbert Islands. On November 24, just one day after the successful capture of Tarawa and Makin Atoll, the USS Liscombe Bay was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-175 off Makin Island. The torpedo struck near the ship’s ammunition magazine, triggering a catastrophic explosion that engulfed the ship in flames and led to its rapid sinking.
Of the 916 men aboard, 644 perished, including Rear Admiral Henry Mullinix and Captain Irving Wiltsie. George Bieri was among the missing. Survivors described horrific scenes of fire, explosions, and desperate efforts to escape the burning ship. One sailor later told George’s sister, Ruby Hash, that he had been with George just 30 minutes before the explosion and believed he had been killed instantly.
Homefront Response and Memorial
News of the sinking reached Kansas in early December. The Bieri family, already concerned by newspaper reports of the disaster, received official word on December 7, 1943, that George was missing in action. His parents, now living in Lansing where Jonathan Bieri was working on the state farm, were devastated. The loss was a second wartime blow for the family—George’s cousin, Henry Bieri, had been killed in 1942 while serving aboard a destroyer.
In the months that followed, George’s family held out hope. However, on December 2, 1944, the Navy officially declared him presumed dead. The memorial service for George W. Bieri was held on May 28, 1944, at the Apostolic Christian Church north of Oneida. Friends, family, and community members gathered to honor the life and service of a young man who had given everything for his country.
Legacy
George Bieri’s legacy is one of quiet dedication, bravery, and devotion to duty. From the Kansas prairie to the Pacific Ocean, he served with honor in some of the most dangerous theaters of the war. A letter written by a fellow sailor and published in The Sabetha Herald described him best: “George was cheerful and had a friendly smile for everyone. He had a way of winning all he met as friends… He served [his country] faithfully and well.”
Though his body was never recovered, George’s name is inscribed among the honored dead, and his story lives on through the memories of his family, the writings of local journalists, and the archives of a grateful nation.
SOURCES
Courier Tribune
1 May 1939
page 8
George Bieri spent last week with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Bieri. George has just completed a four-months’ naval training course in CHicago and will be transferred to a naval base on his return. George says he likes the life of a seaman. He is a cousin of Reuben and Harry Bieri who are in the navy too.
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The Sabetha Herald
3 July 1940
Page 9
Bern Proves to be “Navy Minded”
George Bieri, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Bieri, on the U.S.S. Detroit at Honolulu.
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Fold 3
U.S. Navy Muster Roll
U.S.S. Detroit
30 Nov 1940
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Courier tribune
30 Dec 1940
page 3
Mr. and Mrs Pete Bieri entertained with a dinner Sunday evening in honor of Rueben Bieri, who is in naval school in Washington, D. C. and George Bieri, who is on furlough from Honolulu. Other guests at the dinner Mr. and Mrs. Fred Bieri, Bern; Will Martin, Bern; Mr. and Mr. J. W. Bieri and children from Lansing and Miss Ruby Bieri, Beatrice.
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The Sabetha Herald
1 Jan 1941
Page 9
Mr. and Mrs. Pete Bieri entertained with a dinner Sunday evening in honor of Rueben Bieri, who is in naval school in Washington, D.C. and George Bierie, who is on furlough from Honolulu.
Page 7
George Bieri, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Bieri, is at home on furlough. He has just returned from the Hawaiian Islands. The Jonathan Bieri family were here from Lansing to spend Sunday with relatives.
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Fold 3
U.S. Navy Muster Rolls
USS Detroit
10 Dec 1941
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The Sabetha Herald
10 Dec 1941
Page 10
Harry Bieri, younger son of Sheriff and Mrs. Pete Bieri of Seneca, are on the destroyer U.S.S. Hamonn; Ira and George Bieri, sons of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan BIeri are also stationed in the war zone.
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The DuBois Paper
11 Dec 1941
page 1
Home Boys in Sea War Zone
Ira and George Bieri, sons of Jonathan Bieri, are in Hawaiian Islands.
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Fold 3
U.S. Navy Muster Rolls
Naval Receiving Station, New Orleans, LA
30 Jun 1942
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Courier Tribune
30 July 1942
Page 8
George Bieri, U.S. Navy, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Bieri, Lansing, has been sent home to recuperate from a recent appendicitis operation. Dr. C. B. Has, Seneca, has been instructed to take care of him and met George at Hiawatha and took him to his home where he will stay until able to return to duty. He is a brother of Mrs. Hash.
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The Sabetha Herald
7 Oct 1942
Page 1
Men In The Service
Three Nemaha Sailors Meet
Lloyd Logerwell, son of Mrs. Oliver Logerwell of Sabetha, who has been in the submarine service of the U.S. Navy for some time, writes The Herald as follows about meeting Bob Baugh of Bern:
“I have been doing duty on the same boat with a fellow from Bern and did not find it out till Sunday. His name is Bob Baugh. Some of our shipmates were talking about Kansas and Bob and I both objected at the same time. He looked at me and I looked at him. I said I was from Sabetha, and he said well hold your seat, I’m from Bern. From then on it was a conversation only he and I knew heads or tails of. I think we pretty well covered the history of the two places since 1935, including Price and Berwick. (Editor’s note: which reminds us of the poem of the first world war written by Franklin P. Adams of Information – Please on the radio, which tells of such a meeting and concludes “You may be a lieut. of a major gen. you may be among the enlisted men. But there’s nothing, I’ll wager, can keep you down when you meet a guy from home. If you want to know why I rote this home, well, I’ve just talked with a guy from home.”)
Bob wanted to know if I knew George Bieri from Oneida and I said I used to run around with him. It so happened he was in port on an unidentified boat, so Bob and I steams over to pay a regulation call on George. We find him well and griping as is Navy style. George has had some pretty adventures which all will know about when Adolph sees things our way. George doesn’t look underfed or underworked. I doubt if he puts in more than 24 hours a day for Uncle.
Bob and I are doing our bit, but there are times when in the regular routine of the day—we see each other and discuss different things about two of the nicest little towns in Kansas. We both would sure like to see those places. If they change very much, the city better keep a log because when we come steaming home they will have to account for all changes.
When I come back I will bring with me one of the sweetest people in the world, a good looking girl from the south who has consented to become Mrs. L. Q. Logerwell.
(See addresses for all three boys.)
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Courier Tribune
21 Dec 1942
page 3
Mrs. C. B. Hash and daughter went to Lansing Saturday to visit Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Bieri and to see Mrs. Hash’s brother, George Bieri, with the U.S. Navy. George had a three-day leave. He is assigned to a sub chaser on the east coast. Mrs. Hash and daughter returned today.
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Fold 3
Muster Roll
USS Liscombe Bay (CVE-58)
Bieri, George William
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The Expositor (Brantford, Ontario, Canada)
3 Dec 1943
page 4
ONE U, S. ESCORT
AIRCRAFT CARRIER
WAS TORPEDOED
Washington, Dec. 3-(AP)The United States escort aircraft carrier Liscombe Bay, was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine during the Gilbert Island operations, and was the only American vessel lost during the engagement, the Navy announced Thursday.
Rear Admiral Henry M. Mullinnix, reported missing, was said by the Navy to have been aboard the carrier. Capt. Irving D. Wiltsie, Commander of the Liscombe Bay, also is reported missing in action.
The total casualties have not yet been disclosed.
The Liscombe Bay was the first American escort carrier reported sunk since U. S. entry into the war. An escort carrier is a small one, normally used to escort convoys.
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The Sabetha Herald
8 Dec 1943
Page 1
Men In The Service
George Bieri Missing In Action
Word was received from the government Tuesday morning that George Bieri, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Bieri, is missing in action. The family and friends had been apprehensive since the news last week of the sinking of the aircraft carrier Lipscombe Bay in the Pacific. The family knew George was a seaman on that boat.
The word came to Oneida, the address of the Bieri family when George joined the Navy. The word was relayed to Dr. C. B. Hash of Seneca, who married Ruby Bieri, and he notified the parents, who had moved to Lansing where Mr. Bieri is conducting the state farm.
Another son, Ira, is an electrician on a cruiser in the Pacific. Both boys were at Pearl Harbor. Shortly after that George was sent to the States for a surgical operation and spent some time here with his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Imthurn, and other relatives at Bern and Seneca.
The news dispatches last week said the Lipscombe Bay sank immediately after it was hit.
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Nebraska Daily News-Press (Nebraska City, NE)
13 Dec 1943
page 1
Survivors Tell
Carrier’s Death
Survivors of Liscombe
Bay Describe Torpedo
Hit; Loss of Life Great
SAN FRANCISCO – (U.P.)- The American escort aircraft carrier Liscombe Bay went down in flames with a great hissing sound off Makin Island while members of the crew struggled through burning oil in the waters around her, survivors said Monday.
A split second after a lookout shouted “here comes a torpedo,” the carrier’s light blinked out, and flames leaped high above the flight deck.
The Liscombe Bay went down Nov. 24. The Navy has announced that she was the only American warship lost in the conquest of the Gilbert Islands.
About 200 survivors arriving here said the casualties were heavy. Rear Admiral Henry M. Mullinix, task force commander, and Capt Irving D. Wiltsie, the skipper, both were lost.
Lt Cmdr M. U. Beebe, squadron commander, Anaheim, Cal., described the scene:
“There was a terrific rumbling throughout the ship, and an explosion that lifted me off the deck. The next thing I knew I was trying to get out the door in the darkness, but could find no passage. Fire started and I don’t know how I got there, but I made the flight deck. It was ablaze and there was oil burning on the water.”
There were more explosions before the Liscombe Bay made her final dive, bow out of the water until the last.
Eerographer L. D. Blakely, Lincoln, Neb., “watched her go and heard her death gurgle.”
“There was no suction, only a loud hissing,” he said.
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Marshall County News
16 Dec 1943
page 9
Missing in Action
George Bieri, petty officer first class, former Seneca resident, is missing in action following the destruction of the Liscome Bay, small U.S. Aircraft carrier in the Gilbert Island area.
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The Sabetha Herald
29 Dec 1943
Page 6
George Bieri, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Bieri, and Fred Crawford, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Crawford were reported missing in action after the sinking of the aircraft carries, Liscomb Bay.
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Fold 3
U.S. Navy Muster Rolls
U.S.S. PC 548
31 Jan 1943
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The Roanoke TImes
28 Nov 1993
Page B-1
World War II in the Pacific
Offshore, Japanese submarine I-75 torpedoed the U.S. escort carrier Lipscombe Bay, which exploded spectacularly before sinking with the loss of 600 sailors.
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Courier Tribune
6 Dec 1943
page 2
George Bieri on Lipscombe Bay?
Friends are concerned about the report of the sinking of the Lipscombe Bay, an aircraft carrier, in the Pacific last week. George Bieri, younger son of Mr. and Mrs. J. N: Bieri, Lansing, and a brother of Mrs. C. B. Hash Jr., Seneca, was believed to have been assigned to the ship as an electrician. Daily papers last week carried a notice about the sinking of the ship, but there seemed to be no definite news regarding the details. Relatives of the ship’s crew have received no notice to date and are hopeful there may have been some mistake in the report Mr. and Mrs. Bieri have an older son, Ira, who is an electrician on cruiser, in active service in the Pacific.
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Courier Tribune
9 Dec 1943
page 1
GEORGE BIERI
IS MISSING
NOTIFIED TUESDAY
Second War Blow for
Bieri Family. Was on
Escort Aircraft Carrier
Official notice was received here Tuesday from the U.S. Naval Department that George Bieri, Petty Officer 1st class, is missing in action, in the Pacific war area.
When daily papers reported last week that the Lipscombe Bay, a U. S. Naval Aircraft Carrier, was long overdue, relatives and friends of George Bieri, younger son of Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Bieri, Lansing, were concerned for his safety and well being. It was generally known by his relatives that George was assigned to the ship as Fire Controlman, first class.
George is 24 year old, has served in the Navy since January 1938 and has seen considerable action. He is well known in the Oneida community where he attended school and graduated from high school. He had written his parents this fall that he had been recommended for chief petty officer rating, effective November 1, but they haven’t heard if the rating had been confirmed.
While George never lived in Seneca, he has many friends and acquaintances in this community. He is a brother of Mrs. C. B. Hash and a nephew of Sheriff and Mrs. Pete Bieri. His elder brother, Ira, serving his country in the navy, is an electrician assigned to a cruiser, in the Pacific.
The report regarding George is the second blow to members of the Bieri family since the United States entered the war. A cousin, Harry Bieri, son of Mr. and Mrs. Pete Bieri, was reported killed in action about 18 months ago.
The name of Lt. T. P. Capps, Topeka, was on the list of missing in action in the sinking of the Lipscombe Bay. He was a dentist and a close friend of Dr. Gerard Wempe.
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The Sabetha Herald
19 Jan 1944
Page 4
Mrs. C. B. Hash Jr. has had word from a sailor in Morton, Ill., who was a good friend of her brother, George Bieri, reported missing in action since the sinking of the Liscomb Bay in November. The Illinois sailor told of the sinking, feels positive George was killed instantly. He said he had been below with Petty Officer Bieri just 30 minutes before the ship was torpedoed and was saved only because he left that part of the ship.
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The Sabetha Herald
24 May 1944
Page 1
Service For George Bieri
George W. Bieri, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Bieri, Lansing, who lost his life in the performance of duty as electrician’s mate in the U. S. Navy, will be honored with a memorial service at the Apostolic Christian Church, north of Oneida, Sunday, May 28, at 1:30 p.m.
Mrs. C. B. Hash, Seneca, is a sister of the deceased Navy man.
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The Sabetha HErald
5 Jan 1955
Page 2
George Bieri, who had been reported as missing in action, was officially pronounced as dead by the Navy department.
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The Sabetha Herald
30 May 2007
Page 10
By Patty Locher
U.S. Navy Electrician’s Mate, First Class George Bieri of Oneida, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan N. Bieri of Lansing and formerly of the Oneida community, was declared missing in action on Nov. 24, 1943, while serving on the USS Liscombe Bay in the Pacific Theater of Operations.
Fred Crawford, formerly of rural Sabetha, was also serving on the USS Liscombe Bay and was reported missing in action with Bieri.
A World War II history website gives the following account:
The American Operation “Galvanic,” the invasion of the Gilberts, began on Nov. 20, 1943.
The force under Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, Commander, Central Pacific, invaded Tarawa and Makin Islands. The invasion fleet of 85 ships included 13 battleships and 11 carriers.
At 5 a.m. the invasion bombardment began. Rear Admiral H.M. Mullinix’s Carrier Division (Carrier Div.) 24, three escort carriers, the USS Liscome Bay, USS Coral Sea and USS Corregidor, were attached to Task Force 52, Northern Attack Force.
The American force captured the two islands on Nov. 23. Early on Nov. 24, Japanese Submarine I-175 attacked Makin.
At dawn, the USS New Mexico’s radar spotted I-175, but the submarine dove and avoided attack.
When the islands were secured, the American forces began their return. Carrier Div. 24 and USS New Mexico were steaming at 15 knots.
At 5:33 a.m., the Liscombe Bay’s planes had just begun to prepare their planes for launch.
At 5:40 a.m. I-175 Commander Tabata’s crew fired torpedoes at the carrier. A lookout spotted a torpedo and shouted a warning, but too late. One torpedo hit the carrier on the starboard side aft to the rear of the engine room.
It detonated an ammunition storage magazine, and the stern of the carrier disintegrated in flames. The explosion lifted the ship.
At 5:33 a.m., the Liscombe Bay listed to starboard and sank, carrying down Admiral Mullinix, her Commanding Officer Captain I.D. Wiltsie, 53 officers and 591 men.
The USS Franks and other destroyers rescued 272 of her crew.
Twenty-three of the Liscombe Bay’s aircraft were lost, but five Grumman F4F “Wildcats” managed to land on the new USS Lexington and Yorktown.
A Dec. 2, 1944, letter from Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal to Bieri’s parents explained that Bieri had been missing since the USS Liscombe Bay was torpedoed while participating in the capture of the Gilbert Islands a year earlier.
The carrier went down shortly after the torpedo exploded. Favorable weather conditions enabled nearby US vessels to make a prompt and complete search for survivors.
“In view of the length of time that has elapsed without any indication that your son survived,” the Secretary’s letter said, “and because of the strong presumption he lost his life at the time of the explosion or shortly after, the conclusion is that he is lost and he is presumed to have occurred on Nov. 25, 1944, a day following the expiration of 12 months in the missing status.”
George William Bieri, second son of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Bieri, was born on a farm north of Oneida on April 6, 1919. He was graduated from Oneida Rural High School in 1938.
He helped his father on the farm until January 1939, when he joined the U.S. Navy. At the outbreak of the war, he was at Pearl Harbor and took part in the battle there.
Prior to being sunk on the USS Liscombe Bay, Bieri had served in several battles in different parts of the Pacific. At the time of his loss at age 24, he had been in the Navy nearly five years.
Survivors besides his parents at the time of his death included a brother, Chief Petty Officer Ira Bieri, who at the time had served five years in the U.S. Navy, and four sisters, Ruby Hash, wife of Dr. C.B. Hash of Seneca, Betty and Anna, Sunflower Ordnance Depot, and Della, at home.
The time of George’s loss was serving as an electrician on a cruiser in the Pacific.
A brother, Arthur, preceded George in death. A first cousin, Chief Fire Controlman Henry Bieri of the Bern and Seneca communities, was killed in action on June 6, 1942, while serving on a Navy destroyer in the Pacific.
Memorial services for George Bieri were held Sunday, May 28, 1944, at the Apostolic Christian Church northwest of Sabetha.
The Rev. Rudolph Luchtenecker and Rev. Joseph Wittmer conducted the services.
George was described by those who knew and loved him as a kind and caring person, devoted to his faith and the church.
“George was cheerful and had a friendly smile for everyone,” The Sabetha Herald reported on May 31, 1944. “He had a way of winning all he met as friends, and everyone he met was fond of him. George loved his country and made the supreme sacrifice that we may have peace and freedom. He served it faithfully and well.”
Sources: Dec. 2, 1944, and May 31, 1944 issues of The Sabetha Herald; other newspaper clippings and family history information provided in final layout by DuBois Web and internet sources on World War II history.