The Sutton Museum is the home of the Sutton Historical Society and is dedicated to the collection and preservation of historic artifacts and information about the Sutton, Nebraska community.
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Thursday, April 30, 2020
S1C Donald Averill lost 25 Oct 1944 in the sinking of the USS Gambier Bay Aircraft Carrier
This story appeared in The Harvard Courier 75 years ago describing to the Averill family that the navy had no hope of locating their son missing in the sinking of the aircraft carrier the USS Gambier Bay.
Donald
Edward Averill (1925-1944)
Richard
C. Moore painted this lithograph titled “Freedom’s Cost” commissioned by the
USS Gambier Bay Association. Nineteen-year-old Seaman 1st Class
Donald Averill of Harvard was among the 138 men lost when the aircraft carrier
was sunk by Japanese gunfire on the morning of October 25, 1944. Donald Averill
was a graduate of the Harvard High School Class of 1943.