Weekly View » Steven R. Barnett

Gold Star Heroes

Steven R. Barnett — Thu, 21 May 2026 05:09:19 +0000

While young schoolchildren are awarded a “gold star” for their achievements, a more poignant “gold star” holds a hallowed place on banners marking the loss and sacrifice of soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen in service to our country. Since America’s entry into World War I, over 1,800 sons and daughters from Marion County/Indianapolis have been memorialized with a Gold Star on their family’s service banner.
In the early days following the declaration of war on Germany by the United States in April 1917, recruiting offices distributed “great posters to be hung from the windows of the homes” of those men who had entered service showing the American Flag and carrying the words across the bottom, “A Son of This Home is Defending This Flag For You.” The month following America’s entry into the war, Indianapolis native Captain Robert L. Queisser, who at the time was residing in Cleveland, Ohio, proposed designating the homes “from which men had gone into military service” with a flag consisting of a red border and white field, upon which “should be placed blue stars or a blue star, one star for every member of the family who is called to the colors.” The Blue Star Service Flag was approved by the War Department as a “Badge of Honor” and was soon being placed in windows and flown from businesses. Tragically, in war lives are lost and to show a family’s sacrifice the Blue Star on a service banner was replaced by a Gold Star.
According to the Indiana Gold Star Honor Roll, Corporal Ralph R. Flora, Company L, 28th Infantry, 1st Division, was the first soldier from Indianapolis to be killed in France. He died in action on March 8, 1918, in the Toul Sector. A telegram arrived at the home of Elias and Rebecca Flora, 1616 E. Washington St, informing them of their son’s death. Elias Flora said, “I have other sons who no doubt will see service soon, and I am glad that it is so” and Rebecca Flora said, “It was something to be expected…I am proud to have given a son in service of his country, and two of my other sons are expecting soon to see service against the German forces.”
Twenty-three years later, Amelia South, a widow living at 3437 Guilford Ave., became the first Indianapolis Gold Star Mother of World War II when she received a message in the early morning hours of December 10, 1941, that her son Private Elmer W. South, 13th Air Base Squadron, Army Air Force, had been killed in the defense of his country at Hickam Field during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Sadly, the war would see over one thousand Gold Stars affixed to the service banners displayed in the windows of Indianapolis homes.
A photo spread in the November 20, 1944, issue of Life Magazine, “Families Speak for Their War Dead,” featured eight Indianapolis Gold Star families from the suburb of Irvington who all expressed harsh words for the post-war reconstruction of Germany and Japan. Louis W. and Olma Buck, 52 S. Audubon Rd., lost their son, First Lieutenant Louis William Buck, Jr, 8th Field Artillery, when he was killed in France on July 22, 1944. World War I Captain John Paul Ragsdale, Sr and his wife Mary Ragsdale, 345 N. Ritter Ave., displayed two Gold Stars on their window service banner for the loss of their sons, Second Lieutenant John Paul Ragsdale, Jr, a navigator on a B-17 Flying Fortress that went down during a raid over Germany on May 21, 1943, and Sergeant Edward M. Ragsdale, a radio gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress, who was killed on June 14, 1944, while on maneuvers near Salina, Kansas when his parachute failed to open after bailing out of his plane when it developed engine trouble. Irene Burgess, 804 N. Audubon Rd., was also a double Gold Star holder. Her husband, Lieutenant Colonel Milo David Burgess, Inspector General, 4th Armored Division, died on August 20, 1943, in his quarters at Camp Bowie, Texas, and less than two months later her son, First Lieutenant Bruce Burgess, a P-40 Warhawk pilot with the American Flying Circus, Army Air Force, was killed in action over Italy on October 14, 1943. Gold Star mother Bertha Courtney, 63 N. Irvington Ave., lost her son, Master Sergeant Harold J. Courtney, an army bombsight specialist, who was killed July 16, 1942, near Shreveport, Louisiana during a training exercise when the medium bomber he was on crashed and burned. Henry E. and Grace Morgan, 76 Whittier Pl., became Gold Star parents when their son, Private Murray Warren Morgan, Army Infantry, died on May 7, 1943, of wounds received as a result of actions in North Africa. Jeanette McPheeters, 46 S. Ritter Ave., lost her husband, Lieutenant Colonel John Williams McPheeters, 1st Armored Division, when he died on March 25, 1944, of wounds received while directing an artillery barrage on the Italian beachhead at Anzio. Frances Virt Schulz, 385 S. Audubon Rd., lost her husband, Electricians Mate 2nd class Ronald Herman Schulz, 29th Naval Construction Battalion (Seabees), died February 6, 1944, in southern England from injuries received in an accident. He also left behind a young son. Samuel and Eva Ottenbacher, 120 S. Emerson Ave., lost their son, Radioman 3rd class Samuel Ottenbacher, 23rd Patrol Squadron, United States Navy Air Corps, on the night of November 12, 1942 when he went missing after the PBY-5A Catalina on which he was a crew member crashed at sea while on routine patrol north of Oahu, Hawaii.
Another Indianapolis Gold Star was my wife’s uncle, Sergeant Donald Commodore Byers. A top turret gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress, Sgt. Byers was on his second mission when he was killed August 24, 1944, when his plane was lost over Weimar, Germany due to fighter action.
The constellation of Marion County/Indianapolis Gold Stars sadly continued to expand with 171 casualties of the Korean War and 216 casualties of the Vietnam War. When Joseph and Catherine Frantz, 750 N. Ketcham St., in Haughville opened a telegram from the Department of Defense on the afternoon on August 14, 1950, they learned that their son, Private George Arthur Frankz, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Division, was missing in action on July 11, 1950. Fifteen years later, Raymond and Edythe Smith of Spencer, Indiana, formerly of 318 N. Mount St., Indianapolis, were notified of the death of their son, Marine Private First-Class Ivan Ray Smith, who died of a chest wound on May 12, 1965, that he had received the previous day from a sniper while he was on patrol near Chu Lai, Vietnam. These servicemen were the first from Indianapolis to be killed in these conflicts.
Lieutenant General Timothy J. Maude was the first Indianapolis native killed in what would become the Global War on Terror. He lost his life on September 11, 2001, when hijacked American Airline Flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon. The war would add four more Gold Stars to the Marion County/Indianapolis Banner of Honor.
In May 2021, the Indiana Gold Star Families Memorial Monument was dedicated in Indianapolis on the north end of the American Legion Mall. It “honors, recognizes, and serves Gold Star Families and the legacy of their Loved Ones who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for their service in the Armed Forces of the United States of America.”

100 Years Ago: May 22-June 4

Steven R. Barnett — Thu, 21 May 2026 05:08:44 +0000

One Hundred Years Ago — From The Indianapolis News, Tuesday, May 25, 1926: The Indianapolis Park Board has taken the first steps toward converting Brown’s Triangle, northwest corner of Emerson Ave. and Washington St., into a beauty spot and memorial garden. Trees have been trimmed, underbrush cleared away, an outdated transit shelter has been removed, and the grass has been cut. A memorial stone, a granite boulder that once stood at the entrance to the Butler University athletic field, Butler and University avenues, and was known to a generation of students as a meeting spot, has been placed on this site with a bronze plaque imbedded in its surface commemorating the life and death of Lieutenant Hilton U. Brown, Jr. The memorial stone inscription will be unveiled in ceremonies Sunday afternoon under the auspices of the Hilton U. Brown, Jr and Irvington American Legion Posts.

One Hundred Years Ago — From The Indianapolis News, Saturday, May 29, 1926: The Indianapolis city council, in special session today, passed a daylight-saving time ordinance by a vote of 6 to 1 and transmitted it to Mayor John Duvall who has ten days to consider it. Should the mayor sign the ordinance, it would become effective on the first Sunday in June and continue until the last Sunday in October. Thereafter, daylight-saving time would become effective on the first Sunday in May. Republican councilor Otis Bartholomew proposed the ordinance, and Republican councilor Claude Negley cast the only “nay” vote. Petitions with several thousand names supporting the daylight-saving plan were presented to the council and several employers told the council their employees favored it. Dr. William H. Foreman, a former city health board member, said daylight-saving time was “vicious to the health of the community.”

100 Years Ago: May 15-21

Steven R. Barnett — Thu, 14 May 2026 05:08:00 +0000

From The Indianapolis News, Friday, May 21, 1926: All Butler University classes were dismissed today so students could attend the annual May Day exercises, which were held this year at Fairview Park, the future site of Butler. Many alumni, former students, and friends thronged to the park to witness the morning athletic events and then joined in to enjoy the noon luncheon. The afternoon program saw young men and women students pulling a plow, the handles held by Hilton U. Brown, chair of the board of directors, breaking ground within lines drawn for the first proposed new campus building. The day’s activities at the park concluded with a flag raising, community sing, a pageant consisting of 350 students, and the crowning of Mary Miles Coate, the May Queen. Festivities closed with an evening dance in the Claypool Hotel’s Riley Room.

100 Years Ago: May 8-14

Steven R. Barnett — Thu, 07 May 2026 05:08:40 +0000

From The Indianapolis News, Saturday, May 8, 1926: “Ethiopia at the Bar of Justice,” a pageant depicting the achievement of Negroes, will be presented at Caleb Mills Hall on Thursday. A large audience is expected to see 150 performers portray a cross section of Negro life in America with emphasis on the difficulties in the struggle to reach citizenship. The principal characters are Ethiopia, Opposition, Justice, Miss Indianapolis, Prophecy, Love, History, and Mercy. One of the most interesting features will be impersonations of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington. The colored Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A., the Indianapolis N.A.A.C.P. chapter, the National Federation of Club Women, and the National Musicians Association will be part of the production. The performance benefits the Elizabeth Carter Council of Federated Clubs which is raising funds for the Frederick Douglass Home, a colored women of America shrine.

100 Years Ago: May 1-7

Steven R. Barnett — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 05:08:27 +0000

From The Indianapolis Star, Saturday, May 1, 1926: The Indianapolis school board, in special session yesterday afternoon, voted 3 to 2 to build the new Shortridge High School at 34th and Meridian streets. While a board majority had favored a 46th St. and Washington Blvd. site, board president Theodore Vonnegut said it was useless to continue to oppose the 34th St. location and he was surrendering to public opinion. “The people want the school at 34th Street,” Vonnegut said. “I think it’s a mistake, but the whole town is tired of this subject and so am I. Public opinion unquestionably favors the 34th Street location, and it is not for me to say how I think the people will feel later. This site has many disadvantages which have been outlined before and in voting for it I surrender an ideal.”

Proclaim Liberty

Steven R. Barnett — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 05:09:51 +0000

“Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof” are the ancient words of scripture inscribed on the bell that once hung in the tower of the Pennsylvania State House. For almost a quarter of a century, the tocsin summoned legislators into session and alerted Philadelphians to public meetings before calling delegates to the Continental Congress to gather and then ring out for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. The State House Bell, first announcing a new constellation of thirteen stars among the universe of nations, became known as the Independence Bell and later as an anti-slavery icon the Liberty Bell, its clanging tones symbolically reverberating across the decades and centuries in protest to injustice asserting the self-evident truths that ALL PEOPLE “are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
After years of service, the Liberty Bell fell silent when it developed a large crack and the revered relic of American Independence was placed on an ornate pedestal for display in the Declaration Chamber of Independence Hall, later being hung from the ceiling of the chamber. The public came to hold a special connection to the artifact following popular stories of the Revolution relating to a tale of the ringing of the bell at the time of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Nine out of every ten visitors to the 1876 Centennial Exposition dropped by Independence Hall to see the Liberty Bell and items bearing its image or small replicas of it were sought-after souvenirs.
Following America’s one-hundredth birthday celebration, public devotion to the Liberty Bell increased. In 1885 the sacred relic of the Revolution was shown at the World Cotton Centennial Exposition in New Orleans. The bell was ceremonially taken from Independence Hall, “swung in a polished oak yoke” on an open railroad flatcar “so it can be seen by the people of all the towns through which it passes,” and left Philadelphia under guard. The route took the Liberty Bell through major cities — Pittsburg, Columbus and Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile — where it was viewed by tens of thousands before arriving in New Orleans. After a six-month sojourn in the Crescent City, the historic symbol of freedom returned to its home in the City of Brotherly Love.
Eight years later, the Liberty Bell departed Philadelphia for the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, with all the pomp and ceremony due to the historic icon. Mounted on an open railroad flat car specially built by the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Bell of Freedom began its journey on April 25. Three days later, it arrived in Indianapolis at dawn to a thirteen-gun salute and a welcoming ovation of a crowd of hundreds gathered at Union Station. Later that morning, a mass of people surged around the railcar to get a glimpse of the Tongue of Freedom, passing personal items of every description to the guards to have rubbed on the sacred icon. Fifteen thousand flag waving school children joined thousands of other citizens in front of the State Capitol to hear formal remarks from former President Benjamin Harrison before the historic symbol left for Chicago.
The Liberty Bell would leave Independence Hall in 1895 for the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia; in 1902 for the Inter-State and West Indian Exposition in Charleston, South Carolina; and in 1903 for the Bunker Hill Day Celebration in Boston, Massachusetts. Each of these trips, as did its prior journeys, stressed the fabric of the bell. Pieces of the metal from around the rim had been surreptitiously chipped off for souvenirs and, of more concern, a 17-inch hairline crack had formed extending across the crown through the word “Liberty.” Despite these grave structural issues, the Bell of Freedom made two more cross-country trips.
On June 3, 1904, the Liberty Bell began its sixth trip outside of Philadelphia on a special train to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis where it was displayed in the Pennsylvania building for five months. On the historic relic’s return to Independence Hall, the train carrying it arrived in Indianapolis the evening of November 17, and the flatcar with the Liberty Bell was switched onto the city’s trolley tracks for a parade through downtown streets. An estimated 100,000 cheering people lined the route as the symbol of freedom on its railcar decorated with red, white and blue lights made its way to the Traction Terminal Train Shed where several thousand people viewed freedom’s voice. The following morning, thousands of children saw the Liberty Bell, some being hoisted up to the platform to touch and kiss it in the spirit of patriotism, before the flatcar and its honored cargo returned through the streets to be reunited with the special train to continue the journey home.
Eleven years later the Bell of the Revolution left the City of Brotherly Love on July 5, 1915, for the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, its last journey. On the bell’s homeward trip, the special train once again stopped in Indianapolis on the evening of November 21. A flag waving crowd of tens of thousands braved the breezy cold to see the national relic, mounted on a flatcar decorated with flags, flowers, and lights, slowly roll along trolley tracks down Washington St. from West to East Streets and return, with stops in front of the Statehouse and Courthouse where more than 1,000 school children sang “America.” In the morning, the Liberty Bell resumed its travels to Independence Hall.
In 1950, to promote the sale of United States Savings Bonds, the Treasury Department had replicas of the Liberty Bell made without the infamous crack. These daughters of the historic national treasure were distributed to each state capital and in May a Liberty Bell replica on Monument Circle, together with the pealing of nearby church bells, rang out the launch of the Independence Savings Bond Drive in Indiana. After a tour of thirty-five cities and towns, the bell was placed on display at the Statehouse. It later was removed to the Indiana World War Memorial.
Today, the Liberty Bell is on display in the Liberty Bell Center across the street from Independence Hall in Philadelphia. When one of my grandsons saw the Liberty Bell when he was 10 years old, he said he thought it would be bigger than it was. While the physical size of the Liberty Bell may not have impressed a child, symbolically the enormity of its message of LIBERTY has transformed a nation and has inspired people across the globe seeking to be free from injustice.

100 Years Ago: April 24-30

Steven R. Barnett — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 05:08:10 +0000

From The Indianapolis Star, Monday, April 26, 1926: The first broadcast of the opening Indians baseball game from Washington Park will be made Thursday through special arrangements by The Indianapolis Star and radio station WFBM. Fitting festivities will welcome Ownie Bush and his Indians back in town to play their first game of the season before the home folks. It will be a return series with the Kansas City Blues with whom the Tribe was victorious when the American Association opened there on April 13. W. Blaine Patton, The Star sports editor, will be at the microphone for the broadcast and will give an entertaining and realistic play-by-play account of the game. Every Indiana baseball fan who is unable to see this game from the stands can hear a graphic description of every detail by tuning into The Star’s program.

100 Years Ago: April 17-23

Steven R. Barnett — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:08:56 +0000

From The Indianapolis News, Tuesday, April 20, 1926: Articles of incorporation for the Indianapolis Airport Corporation were filed today with the secretary of state by the Chamber of Commerce airport board. The nonprofit organization was offered free use of the northeast quarter of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a commercial airport which will be controlled and managed by the 113th observation squadron of the Indiana National Guard. Hangars in Kokomo currently used by the squadron will be removed and set up at the speedway for the airport The speedway makes an ideal landing field for commercial aviation, experts say. Under the supervision of the national guard, the cost of operation will not exceed revenues, and the property will be well protected. The immediate establishment of the airport is to place Indianapolis on the new commercial air map of North America.

100 Years Ago: April 10-16

Steven R. Barnett — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 05:08:26 +0000

From The Indianapolis Star, Sunday, April 11, 1926: The cornerstone of Little Flower Church will be laid this afternoon with the blessing of Bishop Joseph Chartrand, assisted by the church pastor Rev. Charles Duffy and several priests from various Indianapolis churches. The new building, which is half completed, will be used as a combination church and school. Six classrooms and a 700-seat church auditorium will occupy the first floor, and the second floor will be the living quarters for the nuns. The basement will contain club rooms for men and women. A copper box will be placed in the cornerstone, containing a roster of present members of the new parish, the names of the men employed in the building’s construction, the program of the ceremonies, a history of the foundation and beginning of the parish, and copies of local newspapers.

100 Years Ago: April 3-9

Steven R. Barnett — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 10:08:27 +0000

From The Indianapolis Star, Tuesday, April 6, 1926: The censor’s iron hand reached into the halls of classic Butler University yesterday and snatched a poster with a sketch of a young lady attired in a smile and abbreviated dancing costume, who was advertising the upcoming junior prom. In its place, the censor substituted a poster with an illustration of a prim and demure puritanical maiden, coyly asking the “boys and girls come to the prom, please.” The junior class prom publicity committee hung the first poster designed by Julia Bretzman in the administration building and within an hour it was replaced by one, according to university president Dr. Robert Aley, that was more in keeping with the tenets of the school. “It was just a little internal matter which needs no publicity. There was no disturbance or trouble,” Aley said.