A September 21, 1944, Lowell Tribune article (page 1, column 2) listed 37 men under the age of 26 who were inducted by Local Board No. 1, Crown Point. Among them was Hollis D. Meyer of Lowell, who was listed as an army inductee. Another article on page 2 column 1 added the following:
Sent to Alabama for Training
Pvt. Forrest Felder and Pvt. Hollis Meyer, Lowell, have been sent from Camp Atterbury, Ind., to Ft. McClellan, Alabama, where they will take their training in the infantry.
This December 14, 1944, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 2, column 1:
Lowell Boys Spend Day Together
A letter received by the Chris Kuipers from their son, Pvt. Edward Kuiper, stationed at Ft. McClennan, Ala., where he is taking training, says that he and two other Lowell boys spent the Sunday before together. The other two boys were Pvt. James Marshall and Pvt. Hollis Meyer. Edward said they were all O.K. and enjoyed the day very much.
This January 18, 1945, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 4, column 1:
Pvts. Hollis Meyer, Forrest Felder and James Marshall, who have been taking their basic training at Ft. McClellan, Alabama, have completed their required training and are now at home here on furlough. When they return to duty they expect to go to the east coast.
This March 8, 1945, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 2, column 1:
A letter received by Mrs. Velma Meyer, from her son, Pfc. Hollis, says he is now in Holland with his outfit, and that everything was going along fine.
The following May 3, 1945, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 6, column 4:
Mrs. Velma Meyer has received a letter, the first in four weeks, from her son, Pvt. Hollis Meyer, who is now in the tank corps of the 9th army in Germany. The letter, written April 15th, stated that he was well and getting along fine.
This June 14, 1945, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 2, columns 2-3:
The following letter from Pvt. Hollis Meyer, stationed in Germany, was received by his mother, Mrs. Velma Meyer, this week:
We are supposed to have a parade this afternoon but it was called off because of rain. Yesterday we took a tour of about 150 miles (one way). We went to an old castle which was built about 800 or 900 A.D. Some of it has been rebuilt because of fire. Martin Luther lived in it for two years, from 1523 to 1525, and while there translated the Bible from Latin to German and gave us the Bible the way we have it today. Also he gave the German people the language they use today. The castle is situated on a very high hill, or rather mountain. We viewed the town down below where Johann Sebastian Bach, the great German composer, was born. He lived there for ten years.
In front of the castle are some cannons that were used in the "30 years war" years ago. A fellow with me, from Chicago, took some pictures of some things there and he said he would let me have the negatives to have some pictures made. That's one thing I wish I had--a camera. Of course, it wouldn't pay to send one from home now. I wish I could have picked one up over here like some of the boys did.
From the castle we went to a concentration camp. You'd never believe the cruelty that they practiced over here, until you saw it. Of course that's all stopped now, but you can see what they had been doing. Mostly Polish, Russian, Belgian and Dutch were held prisoner there. They had a place called the crematorium where they had six ovens in which they cremated prisoners. Downstairs they had a room with hooks all around on which they hung prisoners. Then they put them on an elevator and took them up to the crematorium.
In what they called a hospital they put 1500 when it was built to accommodate only about 100 or so. They were given only a slice of bread early in the morning and then forced to work until 6 o'clock at night on that. When prisoners first came in they were required to take a shower. If they saw any attractive tatoos on them they would peel them off and make lamp shades, purses, erc., out of them.
Went to the show night before last. Saw Abbott and Costello in "Lost In A Harem." There's a band concert tonight.
Hollis
This August 23, 1945, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 2, column 1:
With the 35th Infantry Div., Assembly Area Command, France -- Pvt. Hollis D. Meyer, who is enroute home from Europe with the 5-star 35th (Santa Fe) Division was formerly a member of the 8th armored division which supported the 35th in the battle for Rheinberg and other cities in the drive to the west bank of the Rhine river.
He is one of a group of 8th armored division men transferred into the "Santa Fe" division to fill vacancies created by the release of high-score men under the point system.
Pvt. Meyer is the son of Mrs. Velma Meyer of Lowell.
This September 27, 1945, Lowell Tribune article was found on page w, column 1:
Pvt. Hollis Meyer is home on 30 day furlough visiting his mother, Mrs. Velma Meyer, and brother, after serving in the European war theater for some time.
This October 11, 1945, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 5, column 4:
Pvt. Hollis D. Meyer and mother, Mrs. Velma Meyer and Alan, spent the week-end in Kankakee, where the former served as usher at the wedding of Miss Shirley Fiene, daughter of the Reinhard Fienes, to John T. Dandurand, Saturday evening at the First Methodist church in that city. A reception for about 150 guests in the church parlors, followed the ceremony.
This December 27, 1945, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 2, column 1:
P.F.C. Hollis Meyer, stationed at Camp Campbell, Ky., is here enjoying a 15-day furlough with his mother and brother.
This Lowell Tribune article was found in the March 14, 1946, issue (page 2, column 1):
Staff Sgt. Hollis D. Meyer writes his mother that he will take part in the Army Day Parade, April 6th and that it will be held in Chicago instead of Washington, D.C. as previously planned.
This April 4, 1946, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 5, column 3:
S/Sgt. Hollis D. Meyer was home on a 24-hour leave Tuesday from Chicago where he is stationed for ten days at the Douglas Aircraft plant preparatory to the Army Day parade on April 6th.
This July 25, 1946, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 5, column 1:
S/Sgt. Hollis Meyer arrived home last Saturday, after being discharged from the service at Ft. Sheridan on Friday. He has been stationed at Camp Campbell, Ky., since returning from overseas.
Hollis Meyer's obituary appeared in the August 17, 1999, issue of the Lowell Tribune (page 8, column 5):
Hollis Meyer, age 73, of Grank Park, Illinoins, passed away Friday, August 13, 1999, at Miller Healthcare Center in Kankakee, Illinois. He is survived by: one brother, Alan H. (Jane) Meyer of Kankakee, Illinois; two neices, Lynn Cornwell and Tamra McNamara, both of Naperville, Illinois, and five grand-nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents. Visitation will be held from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday, August 17, at Hub Funeral Chapel in Grant Park. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, August 18, at Grant Park United Methodist Church, with Rev. Charles Anthony officiating, after Hollis Meyer lies in state at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of the services. Burial will follow at St. Luke Cemetery in Beecher, Illinois. Hollis Meyer was born May 2, 1926, in Lake County, Indiana, the son of Gustave and Velma (nee Graves) Meyer. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, and was the first Illinois State University graduate to major in the Russian Language. He was a retired high school teacher from the Glenbard School System in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and Grant Park High School, where he taught Russian and Spanish. He was also a well-known soloist, enjoying 1940-era music and the Glenn Miller Festival in Iowa. A 50-year member of the Grant Park United Methodist Church, he was a world traveler, a Chicago Cubs fan and a coin collector. Memorial contributions would be appreciated to the Grant Park United Methodist Church or Hospice of Kankakee Valley.
