Shipman killed during WWII helping fellow soldier to saftey

Editor’s note: This is the eighth in a series of stories about past and present Jackson County residents who earned the Purple Heart Medal, which is awarded to military personnel wounded or killed in the line of duty.

The names of those profiled in these stories will be placed on a special monument for Purple Heart Medal recipients to be built later this year in Holton’s Linscott Park.

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U.S. Army Private Gail Foster Shipman earned his Purple Heart Medal by giving his life to save the life of a fellow soldier in the aftermath of the Battle of Luzon in World War II.

Shipman, a member of the Medical Detachment, 130th Infantry Regiment of the 33rd Infantry Division, died in June of 1945 from wounds received in an enemy attack in the Philippines. His Army unit was a part of one of WWII’s final battles, the Battle of Luzon, which took place from January of 1945 until the unconditional surrender of the Japanese, ending the war.

Born Oct. 20, 1920, near Montreal, Mo., Shipman was the son of Paul and Ruby Shipman, who moved from Missouri to a farm west of Hoyt two years after he was born. He graduated in 1938 from Hoyt Rural High School with high honors.

He married Mary Barker in 1939, and together, they had two sons, Paul, who currently lives in Topeka, and James Gail, who died shortly after birth. He worked for Morrell Packing and later as a truck driver until joining the Army just one week before his 24th birthday, on Oct. 13, 1944.

Shipman received his military training at Camp Fannin, Texas, then left for overseas duty, landing in the Philippine city of Manila. Shortly after arrival, he was transferred into the 130th of the 33rd.

The unit was a part of the Battle of Luzon, in which Allied forces partnered with Filipino soldiers to retake the island of Luzon, which had been captured in 1942 by Imperial Japanese forces. The Allies had retaken control of all important strategic and economic locations on Luzon by March of 1945.

However, pockets of Japanese resistance held out in the mountains until Japan’s unconditional surrender on Aug. 15, 1945, to end the war. Battles continued throughout the island in the following weeks, with more U.S. troops having landed on the island. Filipino and American resistance fighters also attacked Japanese positions and secured several locations on the island.

On the afternoon of June 12, 1945, Shipman’s unit was ordered to make an assault on an enemy position near the village of Tabio in Mountain Province, located in the heart of Luzon. During the assault, one of Shipman’s fellow soldiers was wounded by enemy fire.

Shipman then attempted to get the other soldier to safety, but unfortunately, he himself was shot and wounded during the rescue attempt. He was immediately evacuated to a rear medical installation, but on June 14, two days after he was shot, Shipman succumbed to his wounds.

A military funeral service for Shipman was conducted and his body laid to rest in Military Cemetery No. 1, located at Santa Barbara in Luzon’s Pangasinan Province. He was later moved to the Manila American Cemetery at Fort Bonifacio, Manila.

In addition to his Purple Heart, Shipman also received the Combat Infantryman Badge, the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal, it was reported.

In the aftermath of Shipman’s death, his widow, Mary, remarried in 1956 to Dana Joy, and they remained in Hoyt until his death in 1999. Mary died in July of 2011. Son Paul lives in Topeka and has two grandchildren and a great-grandson, it was reported.