Howard, one of several brothers and sisters growing up on the farm, first attended the nearby Bainbridge School. This was reflected in the 1930 federal census, which found the parental Pentecost family living in West Marion Township on a rural farm that was owned by his father. The children listed on the census were Lewis 13, Howard 8, Carl 6 and Dorothy H. Pentecost aged 3 years and 1 month.
At age 16, Howard felt he had sufficient education, left school in 1937. This fact was captured in the 1940 census where Howard’s education level was listed as 2 years of high school. In this census, his parents were aged 61 and 52 respectively. Their location was listed as Chamnesstown Road and the home was valued at $500 which appears to have been in the middle of the spectrum when compared to a dozen of their neighbors. Howard listed himself as a farm laborer on his father’s farm. Children listed were Howard 18, Carl 16, Dorothy J. 12 and Alonzo aged 7.
Howard found his first employment with the Illinois Ordnance Plant which started up in the fall of 1941 and was operating very near the family farm. He was working there when world problems got the United States involved in what would became known as World War II.
On August 22, 1942, the paper published a list of 43 young men who had been chosen by their “friends and neighbors” to serve in the U.S. armed forces and the name of Howard Lavern Pentecost appeared on that list. According to Howard’s enlistment records, he enlisted on September 3, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. Howard was physically described as 6’ tall and weighed 168 lbs. His civil occupation experience was listed as janitor and sextant.
In just a little over three weeks, on September 17, 1942, another list was published by the Marion paper reporting that 25 young men were being sent to serve.
The article described the departure as follows, “A farewell party sponsored by the Lions and Elks Clubs was held at 8:15 A.M. at the U.S.O. Club where the boys were served doughnuts and coffee and given cigarettes, candy and magazines. Frank Powell, representing the USO Council, was present and after giving a brief talk to the boys, and presented each one with a Bible, compliments of the Agoga Bible Class, along with a month’s subscription to the newspaper.
Howard Pentecost was one of the 25 “boys” being sent to the Army that day. The newspaper published a list of stories a few days later, on September 30, which told of Howard being at Ft. Stewart, Georgia, and being a member of an anti-aircraft squadron there. Howard arrived at Ft. Stewart the night of September 25th, from Camp Grant, Illinois, which is on the outskirts of Rockford, Illinois.
The next mention of Howard in the newspaper was on January 7, 1943, when he was called to his parent’s home on RFD 2 on account of the serious illness of his sister, Mrs. Jesse Gurley of Marion, RFD 4. This is the last mention of Howard in the paper until after the war was over.
In Howard’s military life at Fort Stewart, he was trained as a crew member of the Army’s fairly new 90 mm towed Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) gun. This gun was a replacement for the 3 inch, M1918 gun which was standard prior to World War II. Modifications to the gun had become necessary when intelligence was received regarding the German success with their anti-aircraft weapons, against waves of allied bomber’s operating over Europe.
The gun was standardized in May, 1941, as a towed anti-aircraft weapon, on a single axle, dual wheeled carriage. The gun also had a distinctive perforated firing platform. This gun went into mass production with thousands being produced during WW II.
Combat feedback in 1943 resulted in another upgrade of the weapon allowing the barrel to be depressed below horizontal for use against tanks and other fortifications. And the gun was also given a fire-control computer. It is not known presently which gun Howard was serving on.
Typically, each 90mm AAA Gun Battalion consisted of a Headquarters, HQ Battery, and four firing batteries, designated A to D. Each battery had four towed 90mm guns plus fire direction equipment. Later, during the war, further modifications would be made to the gun including radar tracking equipment.
The official U.S. Army description of the weapon’s capabilities follows: “The 90mm AAA had an altitude capability of 30,000 feet and a range of 14 miles, firing a 24 pound shell. The ammunition was improved dramatically when fitted with a VT proximity fuse at the end of 1944. The 90mm gun was very effective and was credited with downing many enemy aircraft during World War II. When controlled by the SCR-584 radar set, the U.S. 90mm was the finest anti-aircraft gun of World War II. A single 90mm gun could put 20 to 28 rounds in the air every minute. A battery of four guns was devastating when sighted on a single target. A crew of 8 to 10 soldiers was required to operate and maintain the 90mm gun. This included the section chief, loader, gunner, azimuth pointer, elevation pointer, and an ammo section.”
This therefore is the weapon Howard and his crew was trained to operate. Many, many gun crews at this time were sent to England in preparation for the forthcoming invasion of Europe. Other gun crews were assigned to positions along the seacoasts of the U.S. for defensive purposes.
However, Howard’s crew was selected to go into North Africa for the combat operations there. North Africa was invaded on November 8, 1942, by allied forces. And by May 12, 1943, the Germans and Italians had surrendered. Howard and his gun crew arrived in Tunisia, in March, 1943, shortly before the cessation of hostilities on the ground. There were still incursions by air, and Howard’s crew and others provided the defense against these incursions.
The next invasion by Allied forces was on the island of Sicily. The initial landings occurred on July 9, 1943, and shortly after that, Howard’s gun and crew were located on the island. He was on the island of Sicily, until the island was captured from the German forces, who had withdrawn to the Italian mainland.
He then moved to Italy, after the Allied invasion, which occurred on September 8, 1943. He was on the mainland of Italy for several months and performed his assigned duties as directed. Howard’s crew stayed in Italy until the next summer, when the Allied forces invaded the south of France. This action has been debated since, arguing if the action were necessary.
During this action, Howard’s unit, Battery A of the 215th AAA GEM battalion, moved on north, through France, and was in Germany when the war ended in Europe.
It was July 31, 1945, when the next article appeared in the local paper. This article described Howard meeting up with his brother, Pfc. Carl Pentecost, who had been overseas for the last nine months seeing action in the First U.S. Army. It seems that Carl had gone AWOL to travel to Howard’s location. And Howard recalled them being together for a few days until Howard borrowed a vehicle and returned Carl to his unit.
Fortunately for Carl, the war had ended and he apparently received no severe penalty, as some had received for desertion of their post of duty. The newspaper article mentioned another brother, Pvt. Lewis Pentecost, who was assigned to Camp Lee, Va.
Howard was credited with being in the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaigns, and received 1 Service Stripe, along with 5 Service Bars, and a Service Ribbon, with four Bronze Stars.
Howard sailed from Europe, on October 18, 1945 landing in the U.S., on October 28, 1945. From there, he was moved to Camp Grant, Illinois, where his service had begun in 1942. After some processing, he was finally discharged from the U.S. Army on November 3, 1945.
Before going to the service, Howard had made the acquaintance with a young lady named Geneva Miller. They resumed their courting, and on March 9, 1946, Miss Geneva Miller, became Mrs. Howard Pentecost. To this union were born two children, Ted and Lana Pentecost and they shared 52 years of marriage before her death in 1998.
Howard found work at the Orient #2 mine, in West Frankfort. This was the mine which had the explosion when 119 miners lost their lives on December 21, 1951. Fortunately for Howard, he was a cage operator working on top.
The Pentecost family later moved to Crete, Illinois, where Howard was engaged in some construction iron work in the Chicago area.
In 1964 Howard and his family returned to Marion. As a young boy, he liked to “play store”, making his own paper money and dreaming of owning his own business. That dream became a reality when Howard and Geneva bought Miller’s Home Supply, on old route 13, from Geneva’s brother, Buck Miller, of Herrin. The business prospered and relocated to new route 13 where it was operated by Howard as the “Do It Yourself Home Center.” The business was severely damaged in the 1982 tornado.
Howard and Geneva retired in 1986, and the business continued for some time after their retirement. They did some traveling and wintered in Florida.
Howard’s wife, Geneva, passed away February 22, 1998, and was interred in Benton, Illinois, in the Masonic and Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Howard Lavern Pentecost, 89, of Marion died August 24, 2011 at Marion Rehab and Nursing Center.
As a teen-ager he served as Sunday School Superintendent of the Crab Orchard Baptist Church. He was active in mission work in the Chicago area and helped start the Woodhill Baptist Church in the Park Forest area. He served several years as a deacon at Marion Second Baptist Church and later attended Community of Faith in Marion.
He was survived by his daughter, Lana Wright of Marion; son, Teddy (Sue) Pentecost of Marion; five grandchildren, Chris (Amber) Pentecost of Crab Orchard, IL., Joshua Wright of Clarksville, Tennessee, Benji (Christy) Wright of Herrin, IL., Mark (Jennifer) Pentecost of Crab Orchard, IL., Sarah Wright (fiance of Brett Walters) of Metropolis, IL; great-grandchildren, Karigan Wright and Braxton Wright of Herrin, Kaden Pentecost, Sabbi and Mikkala Church, Jazmine Downey of Crab Orchard.
He was also survived by sisters-in-law, Marlin Pentecost of East Peoria, IL., Berniece Pentecost of Mulkeytown, IL., and Florence Owens of Crete, IL. He was also survived by his faithful companions, St. Bernards, Gebe and Bruzer. He left behind many loving nieces and nephews; many remember him as “Uncle Gorilla”.
Howard was preceded in death by his wife Geneva Pentecost; parents, Robert and Naomi Pentecost, four brothers and 3 sisters – Orville (Afton) Pentecost, Opal (Jesse) Gurley, Opha (Ben) Malacarne, Lewis Pentecost, Carl Pentecost, Dorothy (Clarence) Meinders and Alonzo Pentecost.
Memorial services were held at 11:00 am, Saturday August 27, 2011 at Mitchell-Hughes Funeral Home in Marion with Rev. Jeff Owens officiating. Visitation was Friday, August 26, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm at the funeral home. Burial with military rites was held in the Masonic and Odd Fellows Cemetery in Benton.
(Data extracted from an article written by Harry C. Boyd and published in Marion Living Magazine, July 2008; Obituary from the Marion Daily Republican, August 2011; Federal Census Records; Military Enlistment Records; compiled by Sam Lattuca on 10/26/2013)