Earl Frederick Gaertner is the son of Mr. & Mrs. Otto Gaertner of 210 Garden St., Edwardsville, Illinois. Earl attended public schools until reaching his first year of high school. After leaving school he worked for the N.O. Nelson Company and became a butcher until his enlistment. Earl received religious instruction on Saturdays at Eden Evangelical school and was afterwards confirmed in the Eden Church by Rev. H. Rahn. The Navy recruitment officer had come to Edwardsville and with his parents consent, Seaman Gaertner enlisted in the Navy on June 15, 1918 at just 15 years old. Seaman Gaertner was stationed at Puget Sound Naval Base, Washington and was training as a gunner when he took a cold that developed into a fatal case of lobar pneumonia. Smn. Gaertner was brought home and the funeral was held at Eden Evangelical Church, interment at Woodlawn Cemetery with military honors and a flyover by aircraft from Scott Field. Seaman Earl F. Gaertner was 15 years, 8 months and one day of age.
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