EDITORIAL: Remembering Pearl Harbor and the sacrifice of Keith Tipsword
Dec. 7—The anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor is always a day for somber reflection. But today takes on even greater meaning for one Effingham County family — and for our whole community.
Navy Machinist's Mate 1st Class Keith W. Tipsword was 27 when he died aboard the USS West Virginia during the attack on Pearl Harbor 81 years ago.
He was laid to rest in Moccasin Cemetery near Beecher City last month, on Nov. 15, with full military honors. As the Effingham Daily News wrote at the time, an overwhelming sense of closure pervaded the service — and even joyous celebration. The sailor had finally come home from the sea.
That closure was a long time coming.
Over the summer, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced the remains of the local sailor had been identified.
Dalyne Sapp of Effingham was a child when Tipsword, her oldest brother, was killed. Sapp learned in July that DNA samples she submitted five years ago with her sister, Betty Fae Yocum of Greenup, showed a relationship to DNA of remains examined by the Navy. Yocum died three years ago.
Officials say the meticulous work of identification takes time — and in this case, years.
We appreciate DPAA's efforts to identify Tipsword and hundreds of others from the wars and other conflicts during which they served. That effort eases the burden of uncertainty felt by the families left behind. More than that, it reminds us to never forget the sacrifices made to keep us free.
Another Effingham County native who was killed during the Pearl Harbor attack was Louis H. Dasenbrock. Dasenbrock was the son of Frank and Helen Dasenbrock and a St. Anthony High School graduate. Dasenbrock was a member of the Army Air Corps, an aerial warfare service between 1926 and 1941, now the United States Air Force.
Dasenbrock entered the service in 1940 and was stationed in Hawaii at Hickam Field as an engineer for a B-17 bomber plane with the 50th Reconnaissance Squadron. He was killed in action at Hickam Field during the attack on Pearl Harbor, at the age of 22.
Tipsword was born June 21, 1914, in Moccasin, Effingham County. He began his service Nov. 3, 1936, at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, where he was for three months. He had already served four years with the Navy, and was in a two-year extension, at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
At a time when this nation seems so overwhelmed by political and ideological differences, we should always honor those who serve and those who have served to preserve our nation. Especially those who gave the last full measure of devotion.
We're reminded of what one veteran said as he helped honor the return to Effingham County of Tipsword's remains last month.
"This is a man who made the ultimate sacrifice, and he wasn't even aware he was at war," said Terry Spurgeon, 73, senior ride captain for the Patriot Guard Riders. "All he knew is we were under attack."
As the ranks of those who served during World War II continue to thin, it's important to be reminded by the memorial to Tipsword just how much we owe them — and to all those who came before and after.
In his speech to Congress the day after that "date which will live in infamy," President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, "The American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory."
That victory and others would never be possible without the devotion of the men and women who serve.
