Area Reservoirs
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| # | Surface Area | Volume- Mil. Gal. | Perimeter Distance | Year Constructed |
| 1. | 11.0 acre | 25.3 | 3,300' / .62m | Later 1800's |
| 2. | 16.5 acre | 68.0 | 3,600' / .69m | 1891 |
| 3. | 31.7 acre | 95.0 | 6,800' / 1.29m | 1919 |
| 4. | 91.3 acre | 305.0 | 7,850' / 1.49m | 1941 |
| 5. | 128 0 acre | 735.5 | 9,500' / 1.8m | 1958 |
| 6. | 160.0 acre | 919.0 | 12,250' / 2.32m | 1991 |
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Lake Mottrom- Res. #2
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Lake Lamberjack- #3
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Lake Mosier #4
Lake LeComte, #5
Veteranda Memorial, #6
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May 23, 2001
Reservoirs named for first to fall
Fostoria honors men from all 5 services
By Jefferson Wolfe
Staff Writer
FOSTORIA -- Although the city's reservoirs are still commonly called by their numbers, in 1946 they were named for Fostoria veterans who were killed in World War II.
That year, a city ordinance named the four reservoirs then in existence after the first veteran in each service to be killed in action during the war.
- Reservoir No. 1 was named after Eugene Daugherty, the first Fostoria sailor killed in action. He died in December 1941.
- No. 2 was named after Charles W. Mottram, the first Fostoria Marine killed in action. He was killed in October 1942.
- No. 3 was named after Gerald Lamberjack, the first Fostoria soldier killed in action. He died in July 1943.
- No. 4 was named after William Mosier, the first Fostoria Coast Guardsman killed in the war. He was killed in March 1944.
After Reservoir No. 5 was built in 1969, it was named for the Charles E. Lecomte, the first Fostoria airman killed in World War II. He was killed in January 1944.
Reservoir No. 6 was built in 1991 and named Veterans Memorial Reservoir.
Lamberjack, a sergeant, was killed in action July 23, 1943, probably in Sicily, according to the Fostoria Daily Review of Aug. 16, 1943.
The paper said his mother, Veronica, received word of his death while attending Mass at St. Wendelin Church. The message said he was killed in action in the North African theater.
"Mom came over to our house on Sunday morning," said Blanche Shultz, Gerald's sister. When Veronica got home from church, she found the notice on the door that the Army was trying to find her, Shultz said.
"She came over to my house and she was crying," she said.
Mrs. Lamberjack told the Daily Review she had received a letter from Gerald two days before, dated July 19, 1943, in which he said was no longer in Africa, but was fighting with his outfit in a place, believed to have been Sicily, where "the weather is extremely hot."
Before being drafted, Gerald had spent a lot of time at Shultz's home helping her take care of her children while her husband was at work.
"I'd be ironing and he'd be holding the baby and my husband would come home from Seneca Wire," she said.
He was inducted into the Army Jan. 19, 1942, at Fort Hayes in Columbus.
Lamberjack trained as an infantryman at Camp Wolters, Texas, and Fort Bragg, N.C. He was sent overseas to Ireland in October 1942.
Lamberjack was a member of the 39th Infantry. He was a veteran of five major offensives in North Africa, including the invasion on Nov. 8, 1942.
When he was sent to North Africa, he wrote letters to the family all the time, Shultz said.
When Lamberjack was sent from North Africa to Italy, he was supposed to get 10 days leave, she said. He was not granted leave, but came home anyway. He and a couple others came back to the United States with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.
Lamberjack stayed for nine or 10 days, Shultz said, then went back. He was never punished. In fact, the incident was never mentioned, she said.
That leave was the last time the family saw him.
Back in Sicily, Lamberjack's platoon of about 30 men was on patrol when he stepped on a mine.
"He was killed instantly," Shultz said. "He didn't suffer."
After the war, their sister, Hilda Ruffing and the rest of the family, worked to get Lamberjack's body brought back to the U.S. His funeral was at Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, Shultz said.
"When they blew those bugles and all that, it just about tore your heart out," she said.
Lamberjack's grave is in Carey, the same city where he was born Nov. 24, 1915.
Before his induction, Lamberjack had lived in Fostoria for five years and worked at National Carbon. His nephew, Ronald Lamberjack, has a picture of Gerald that hung at National Carbon for many years after his death.
Shultz said the family was proud Fostoria named one of the reservoirs after her brother.
"I thought it was an honor," she said. "Gerald was a guy that just got along with people. That's what hurt so bad, because everybody loved Gerald. I never remember him getting mad."
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Mosier, a seaman second class in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, died March 9, 1944, when his ship was sunk by a torpedo from a German submarine.
"They came to my dad's house here in Fostoria on East Fourth Street," said Blanche Grashel, Mosier's older sister. Mosier had lived at home before going into the Coast Guard.
According to the Fostoria Review Times from Oct. 12, 1944, the message received by his father, William Mosier Sr. was:
"My dear Mr. Mosier:
"When you were advised that your son, William Mosier Jr., Seaman, second class, USCGR, was missing with his vessel the USS Leopold (DE-319) you were told that when sufficient information had been obtained to make a change in status you would be advised.
"A Board of Investigation was convened to inquire into the loss of the vessel when she was torpedoed by the enemy. After careful consideration a determination has been made that the death of your son occurred at the time of the action, 9 March 1944. All pay and allowances continue to accrue to the date of the determination was made, 3 October 1944.
"I wish to offer you my sympathy and assure you that in the event I can be of aid I shall be glad to have you communicate with me.
"By direction of the commandant,
"Very truly yours,
J. S. Hunt,
Commander, U.S. Coast Guard Reserve Chief, Military Morale Division"
Another of Mosier's sisters, Mildred Wadsworth, contacted one of the few men who survived the incident. He lived in Akron. They found out that the water in the North Atlantic was too cold for a person to survive.
"That North Atlantic was just like freezing water anyway," Blanche said. "It would have killed him instantly."
Mosier probably was below deck when the torpedo struck, said Roger, Blanche's husband.
"He wasn't in hardly any time before they sent him out there," Blanche said. Before Mosier shipped out, he had a premonition, Blanche said. Mosier had talked to another sister, Juanita Wisner, when he came home on leave.
"He told her he had a premonition he was going to die in the service," Blanche said.
The Leopold was sunk during one of Mosier's first trips to sea, she said.
His remains were never found, and there was never a funeral, Blanche said. The family just kept hoping he might be found, she said.
Initially, Mosier had tried to enlist at the same time as a group of his friends from Fostoria.
"They all went to enlist at the same time, and they turned Bill down because he had a heart murmur," Blanche said. "He was so disappointed because they all wanted to go in at the same time."
Some time later, he was able to enlist in the Coast Guard Reserve.
Before enlisting, Mosier had graduated from Fostoria High School.
"He was really something," Blanche said. "He had the nicest personality and he was really good hearted."
Blanche and Roger still have the Purple Heart that was awarded to Mosier posthumously.
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Lecomte, an Army Air Corps flight officer, was missing for seven months before he was declared dead in August 1944. He was originally reported missing in action over Italy.
"Although details were lacking, it was known that Flight Officer Lecomte's plane, a B-26 two-motored medium bomber, 'The Skipper,' based in Sardinia, was shot down over Italy in the air action supporting the landings on the Anzio beachhead. It is believed he died in the crash of his plane somewhere behind German lines," according to the Aug. 1, 1944 Daily Review.
The first notification that Lecomte was missing was received in Fostoria March 4, 1944. Between then and the notification of his death, his mother, Blanche, received information from his squadron mates. They told her several members of her son's crew parachuted to safety after the plane was hit by flak.
According to the Daily Review, Lecomte was an outstanding player on Fostoria High School's undefeated 1938 football team. After he graduated, he attended Ohio University.
While in college, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was called to duty July 10, 1941. He trained as a mechanic at Maxwell Field, Ala., and Chanute Field. Ill., before he was sent to Panama where he served six months.
While in Panama, Lecomte passed the examinations to become an air cadet. He was sent to Randolph Field, Texas, for his initial training. He received his wings and was made a flight officer at Lubbock Army Air Field in Texas.
After transitional flight training at Avon Park, Fla., he flew his ship across the Atlantic in July 1943, the paper said.
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Daugherty was the first Fostoria serviceman to be killed. He died as a result of the bombing at Pearl Harbor, according to the Fostoria Daily Review of Dec. 22, 1941. He and another Fostoria sailor, Durward Laney, were both killed in the attack.
Initially, Daugherty was reported missing, but later was declared dead.
He was born Aug. 7 1918 in Congo, Ohio. He had enlisted at Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Chicago Jan. 23, 1940. He was assigned to the Pacific Fleet and received most of his training in Hawaii, the Daily Review said.
He was a graduate of St., Wendelin High School, where he played football and basketball. He attended Assumption College in Ontario for two years.
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Mottram, a corporal in the Marine Corps, was the fourth Fostorian to be killed in action, according to the Oct. 14, 1942 Fostoria Daily Review. The paper said he died as a result of aerial action somewhere overseas, believed to have been in the southwest Pacific area.
"Lieutenant General Holcomb, in his message to Corporal Mottram's parents, said 'to prevent possible aid to our enemies please do not divulge the name of his ship or station. The present situation necessitates interment temporarily in the locality where death occurred and you will be notified accordingly. Please accept my heartfelt sympathy. Letter follows.'"
Mottram was born June 10, 1922 in Toledo, and his family moved to Fostoria in 1928. He graduated from Fostoria High School in 1940. During his high school days, he was a student manager for the football and basketball teams, the Daily Review said.
He worked as a compositor for the Gray Printing Co. He enlisted in the Marines June 6, 1941.
Thanks to Leonard Skonecki, who helped with the research on this article.
* Pictures and links where added by Fostoria.org
