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Mervin Barkey

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Mervin Barkey

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    1937 LHS basketball squad    		 Placeholder
    1939 LHS football squad
This March 30, 1944, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 1, column 6:

    MERVIN BARKEY REPORTED MISSING OVER GERMANY

    FOURTH BOMBER GUNNER LOST IN FEB. 20-25 PERIOD IN RAIDS ON NAZI CITIES

    T/Sgt. Mervin Barkey, 1st Engineer gunner on a B-24 bomber, became the fourth local boy reported missing in action during raids over German territory in a five-day period from February 20th to 25th, when the War Department notified his fiancee, Miss Gladys Berkshire of Chicago, that he had been missing since February 24th. As in the case of the other three boys, Sgt. Dale Schilling, S/Sgt. Joseph Baker and S/Sgt. Robert Stump, his fate is not known.
    Enlisting in the air corps Sept. 11, 1942, Barkey, a veteran of 16 previous missions over enemy territory, had been in England since October, 1943.
    A son of Mr. and Mrs. John Barkey of Roselawn, he was graduated from Lowell high school in 1939, starring in both basketball and as a pole vaulter on the track team.
    One brother, Raymond Barkey, is also in service, stationed with a paratrooper unit in Ireland. Two sisters of the missing gunner, well known here, are Mrs. Forest Martin of Shelby and Mrs. Arnold Schreiber of Brunswick.
This April 20, 1944, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 1, column 2:

    T-Sgt. Mervin Barkey Prisoner in Germany

    T/Sgt. Mervin Barkey, 1st Engineer gunner on a B-24 bomber, reported missing over Germany on his 16th mission last February 24th, is a prisoner of war according to an official notice sent his parents, the John Barkeys, of Roselawn, by the war department.
    Barkey, a graduate student of Lowell high school, enlisted in the air corps Sept. 11, 1942. A brother, Raymond, is stationed with a paratrooper unit in Ireland.
    Last week, S/Sgt. Joseph (Tommy) Baker, another of the four local boys reported missing in February, was also reported a prisoner of the Germans, but the remaining two, Sgt. Dale Schilling and S/Sgt. Robert Stump, are still not accounted for.
A November 2, 1944, Lowell Tribune article (page 1, column 6) about the death of his brother Raymond mentions "Mervin Barkey, 23, gunner-engineer on a Flying Fortress, has been a prisoner of war in Germany since his plane was forced down over that country last February 24th."

This Lowell Tribune article was found in the June 7, 1945, issue (page 2, column 2):
    T/Sgt. Mervin Barkey, son of the John Barkeys, Rose Lawn, wrote his sister, Mrs. Forest Martin of Shelby, this week, that he had been liberated from a Nazi prison camp and at present was in France awaiting his turn to come home.
    Sgt. Barkey, a gunner on a B-24 bomber, was listed as missing in action over Germany, Feb. 24, 1944, but he had parachuted to safety and was taken prisoner by the Germans. He was one of four local boys listed missing over Germany in a four-day period from Feb. 20-24, and is the second accounted for since the fall of Germany. S/Sgt. Joseph T. Baker, the first local boy liberated, is now visiting his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Washington Baker of Gary. The other two flyers, Dale Schilling and Robert Stump, are still unaccounted for.
    Barkey, a graduate of L.H.S. in the class of 1939, enlisted in the air corps Sept. 11, 1942, and went overseas in October, 1943. Before his plane was shot down, he had participated in 16 missions over enemy territory.
    A brother, Ray Barkey, also a graduate of Lowell high school in 1942, died of wounds received in action in Holland, October 6, 1944. Ray was wounded the first time on June 6, 1944, but had recovered and gone back into action.
Last updated on October 18, 2004.

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