SSGT Louis Josephius Tootsey (WWII)


Remembering SSGT Louis Josephius Tootsey (Fairmont)

February 5, 1916 - October 10, 1945

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Note: While most military and census files list his name as Tootsey, in other places their family name is listed as Tuzi, including on his parents' gravestone.

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SSGT Louis J. Tootsey (Service Number 15097583) was born February 5, 1916, the son of Italian immigrants Peo and Teresa (DeArcangelis).

Tootsey/Tuzi. When Louis was born, their family lived in Fairmont, WV, near the neighborhood of Bellview. Peo worked as a laborer, in both the coal mine (1910, 1920, 1940 Censuses), and the glass factory (1930 Census).

Louis was a 1934 graduate of West Fairmont High School (WV Memory Project). On July 3, 1936, Louis married Anna Ruth Wills in Paintsville, Kentucky.

Military Service: 

On October 16, 1940, Louis registered for the draft in Van Lear, Kentucky, where he lived with his wife Anna. He was employed by Consolidated Coal in Van Lear. Louis was 5'11" and 180 lbs with brown hair, brown eyes, and light skin (Draft Card).

Louis enlisted in the Army Air Corps on June 2, 1942 in Lexington, Kentucky (Army Enlistment Records). His wife, Anna, joined the WAC just two months later, on August 8, 1942 (BIRLS Death File). Louis trained at the Boca Raton Radar School in Florida before being sent abroad in March of 1945 ("Tootsey Missing in Pacific Area").

Louis became a member of the 374th Troop Carrier Group, Sixth Troop Carrier Squadron. On October 10, 1945, SSGT Tootsey was on board the Douglas C-46D (44-78490) as the radio operator on a routine operational flight from Biak Island to Finchaven, New Guinea. Their plane encountered poor weather and was declared MIA (MACR 14977). 

Search parties sought the fallen aircraft, and discovered the wreckage of a C-46D at an altitude of around 10,000 feet, unreachable at that time by helicopter or on foot. Subsequently, the crew was declared dead in June of 1946.

In 1949, a team from the American Graves Registration Service was able to recover the majority of remains from the wreckage, though in 1978 additional remains were discovered at the crash site (recovered in 1979). SSGT Louis Josephius Tootsey was buried at Sant Anthony's Garden Catholic Cemetery in Van Lear, Kentucky. He is also honored at the West Virginia Veterans Memorial in Charleston, WV. 

Survivors and Legacy:

SGT Anna Ruth Tootsey served in the WAC until 1945. The week before Louis' disappearance was announced by telegram in November of 1945, she been given an honorable discharge to await his return ("Tootsey Missing in Pacific Area"). Anna Ruth never remarried.

SSGT Louis Josephius Tootsey was also survived by his parents and seven siblings- five sisters (Louise, Caroline, Anna Marie, Frances, and Mary) and two brothers (Joseph and Paul). Paul served in the U.S. Army in Germany during WWII.

Crew of the 44-78490

Pilot: Flight Officer John L. Zagata
Co-Pilot: 1LT Ruford D. Scott
Aerial Engineer: SGT Keith Peters
Assistant Aerial Engineer: PFC William B. McFadyen
Radio Operator and Mechanic: SSGT Louis Tootsey

Sources and More Information:

  • Fairmont Senior High School Yearbooks: 1933, 1934
  • Findagrave: SSGT Louis J. Tootsey
  • Kentucky Marriage License: Louis Tootsey and Anna Ruth Wills
  • Pacific Wrecks: C-46D-20-CU Commando Serial Number 44-78490 (has pictures of crash site)
  • US Army Enlistment Records: Louis J. Tootsey, Anna Ruth Tootsey
  • US Census Records: 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950 (Accessed through Ancestry)
  • US Draft Cards: Louis Josephius Tootsey (Accessed through Ancestry)
  • US Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File: Anna R Tootsey (Accessed through Ancestry)
  • US Headstone Applications: Louis Tootsey
  • West Virginia Memory Project: Louis Tootsey
  • Missing Air Crew Report: MACR 14977 (National Archives)

Newspaper & Magazine Articles:

  • Solider Listed Missing In Philippines' Area. The Lima News. 30 November 1945. Accessed through Newspapers.com.
  • Tootsey Missing in Pacific Area. The Fairmont Times. 29 November 1945. Accessed with help from the WVU West Virginia and Regional History Center. Photo Source.

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