website bigpigeon.us, webpage WWII Roster > About the Roster - © 2022 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated 13 May 2022.
Why the Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead Roster:
While researching my home town of Avoca, Iowa, I found that some WWII deaths were missing from family histories or trees. It troubled me that anyone lost while serving their country, dying away from family, usually in misery, filth, pain or terror, might be forgotten. Most war dead did not even have children to preserve their memory; some dead were as young as 18. This I began this on-line roster to preserve key information about the Pottawattamie area war dead.
I was fortunate - few counties in the United States have the on-line resources sufficient to build a roster like this.
I've cast my net widely as to who is included in my Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead Roster:
To keep in mind when accessing my Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead Roster:
Unlike the public Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead Roster in bigpigeon.us, my underlying data is private:
Sources for the WWII Roster > About the Roster webpage:
While researching my home town of Avoca, Iowa, I found that some WWII deaths were missing from family histories or trees. It troubled me that anyone lost while serving their country, dying away from family, usually in misery, filth, pain or terror, might be forgotten. Most war dead did not even have children to preserve their memory; some dead were as young as 18. This I began this on-line roster to preserve key information about the Pottawattamie area war dead.
I was fortunate - few counties in the United States have the on-line resources sufficient to build a roster like this.
- Resources for the Pottawattamie area were developed over the years by hundreds of individuals, most of whom are both unknown and deceased. I am grateful to all of them for making this project possible.
- The WWII > WWII References webpages link to many sources that I used for building my roster.
- The Roster Outliers webpage has a short list of my commonly-used sources.
I've cast my net widely as to who is included in my Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead Roster:
- I've included almost all known WWII deaths of those who lived in Cass, Pottawattamie, Harrison, Mills or Shelby County at one time, and some who had a spouse, parent, or next of kin who lived in the area.
- The Roster Outliers webpage lists some claimed WWII Pottawattamie County deaths that are not included.
- I also included all WWII deaths that I found in my Reunion for Mac databases. Thus a few roster members never lived or had immediate family in the Pottawattamie area.
- About half a dozen died after the cessation of hostilities but while still in service; these were mostly accidental deaths.
- In the Deaths section, some who died in captivity are listed in the area where they were captured, rather than the area where they died.
- A special The Roster > Post-Separation Deaths webpage lists Pottawattamie area WW II veterans who were separated from service but died within the following several years, thus entitling their beneficiary to a special Iowa bonus payment.
To keep in mind when accessing my Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead Roster:
- Beware - My roster has voluminous amounts of data and is bound to contain errors. Please feel free to report errors or suggest changes via the Contact Form at the end of the Home > Usage Hints webpage.
- Regarding privacy considerations, I try to use only publicly available information. I believe that all individuals named, such as spouses, are now deceased. However, in a few cases my information might be embarrassing to surviving family members. If this is the case, please contact me and we will work out an alternative.
Unlike the public Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead Roster in bigpigeon.us, my underlying data is private:
- I use the Reunion for Mac genealogical data management software.
- Most roster data comes from a private Reunion for Mac database named St. Paul’s, which contains information for over 46,000 individuals with family connections, albeit often tenuous, to rural Pottawattamie County. St. Paul's focuses on the Boomer/Hazel Township area, in which St. Paul’s Lutheran Church is located. My St. Paul's database is in my Mac folder Bob Docs > _Reunion Databases.
- For each of the ~100 roster members not in my St. Paul's database, I have built a small private family database in my Mac folder Bob Docs > _Reunion Databases > R11NotInSt.Paul's.
Sources for the WWII Roster > About the Roster webpage:
Epigraph from Veterans Plaza Memorial, Bayliss Park, Council Bluffs, Iowa
Remembering those in my WWII Dead roster to whom we owe so much, I have included the following eloquent and moving epigraph, The Glory of their Spirit by the late Richard W. Peterson of Council Bluffs.
When destiny demanded and country called,
they in answer left our rolling hills
and great river valley, and learned the arts of war. Then, on and beneath restless waves of the deep,
in endless skies and across vast oceans to island shores, on broad plains and barren hillsides, in dark forests,
on snow-covered mountains and in the rubble of smashed villages
and cities they faced and fought, with valor and dedication,
those who challenged our ideals and freedom and,
in the very vortex of combat, were then greeted and embraced by Death. The soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen were not born
to die in the youth of their lives – yet they did.
They were not born to die death of violence – yet they did.
By cruel and brutal circumstances of war, they gave their lives
that we might live our lives and years in liberty and peace.
Never should we forget their ultimate sacrifice.
We now in their memory carve their names in stone,
and enshrine them in our hearts;
we now cast in eternal bronze, figures who in sorrow and
in the long, long thoughts of youth
reflect on the last measure of devotion given by those we now honor, and we join their mute and motionless yet eloquent presence
in their silent meditation,
Thinking not only of the passing of the departed patriots,
But remembering the glory of their spirit.
© Richard W. Peterson, reprinted with permission of Kip (Peterson) Sherbondy.
Remembering those in my WWII Dead roster to whom we owe so much, I have included the following eloquent and moving epigraph, The Glory of their Spirit by the late Richard W. Peterson of Council Bluffs.
When destiny demanded and country called,
they in answer left our rolling hills
and great river valley, and learned the arts of war. Then, on and beneath restless waves of the deep,
in endless skies and across vast oceans to island shores, on broad plains and barren hillsides, in dark forests,
on snow-covered mountains and in the rubble of smashed villages
and cities they faced and fought, with valor and dedication,
those who challenged our ideals and freedom and,
in the very vortex of combat, were then greeted and embraced by Death. The soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen were not born
to die in the youth of their lives – yet they did.
They were not born to die death of violence – yet they did.
By cruel and brutal circumstances of war, they gave their lives
that we might live our lives and years in liberty and peace.
Never should we forget their ultimate sacrifice.
We now in their memory carve their names in stone,
and enshrine them in our hearts;
we now cast in eternal bronze, figures who in sorrow and
in the long, long thoughts of youth
reflect on the last measure of devotion given by those we now honor, and we join their mute and motionless yet eloquent presence
in their silent meditation,
Thinking not only of the passing of the departed patriots,
But remembering the glory of their spirit.
© Richard W. Peterson, reprinted with permission of Kip (Peterson) Sherbondy.