GETTYSBURG — Gettysburg National Cemetery is the final resting place of over 3,500 Union soldiers from the Civil War, including 526 Pennsylvanians who gave their “last full measure of devotion.” In addition to the Civil War dead, the cemetery also includes over 3,000 additional interments of the fallen from the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

To commemorate the 38 Pennsylvanians who died in July during World War II and lie in repose at Gettysburg, volunteers with the non-profit Stories Behind the Stars (www.storiesbehindthestars.org) have written memorials honoring each of them. They are archived and are accessible on the websites of Fold3, Together We Served, and Find-a-Grave in addition to the gravesites and cenotaphs of the fallen via smart phone. One of the honored fallen was from Mifflin County: S1c Stanley E. Fairbanks.

Stanley Edward Fairbanks was born on June 17, 1924 in Mill Creek to Paul M. and Pearl R. Cramer Fairbanks. The Fairbanks family settled in Lewistown. The father was a fireman at a rayon mill. Fairbanks became employed as an electric crane operator for the Bethlehem Steel Company.

Fairbanks registered for the draft on June 30, 1942 in Harrisburg and enlisted in the Navy as a seaman on Jan. 8, 1944 in Sampson, New York. He was eventually assigned to temporary duty on the aircraft carrier USS Antietam (CV-36). It appears that Fairbanks was re-assigned elsewhere before deployment of the carrier to the Pacific Theater of Operations.

Fairbanks died in the line of duty on July 16, 1945 from pulmonary edema at the US Naval Hospital at Fort Eustis, Virginia. He was buried at the Gettysburg National Cemetery (Section 1, Grave No. 151) on July 21, 1945. Fairbanks was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.

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Stories Behind the Stars memorials are accessible for free on the internet and via smart phone app at gravesites and cenotaphs. The non-profit organization is dedicated to honoring all 421,000 fallen Americans from World War II, including 31,000 from Pennsylvania. To volunteer or for more information, contact Kathy Harmon at kharmon@

storiesbehindthestars.org or visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org.