Aggregate Roster Data

National WWII Memorial

Addenda

Unlike other pages in the Roster Addenda submodule, this page doesn't include individual names. It is probably of interest only to the author.
Data on this page should be consistent with the counts in WWII Hub.

Part 1 - Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead Summary Data (28 Jan 2024, from Part 2 below)

Roster Records
Webpage Totals
(left column below)

Ancillary Records
Webpage Totals

Roster Fatalities from
Death Locations Webpage
Totals below

Roster Records 750

Veterans A-F 37
Veterans G-M 29
Veterans N-Z 33
More WWII-Era Dead 8 Total 107

War with Japan 268
War with Germany 389
Stateside Deaths 93
Total 750

Notes on above counts:

Fatalities in Alaska and Hawaii Territories are assigned to the War with Japan.
Note Roster Records and Foster Fatalities counts agree at 750.

Part 2 - Roster Summary Data Computations (from Roster Records & Death Locations webpages)

Roster Records
by Surname
(28 Jan 2024)

Roster Fatalities
War with Japan
(28 Jan 2024)

Roster Fatalities
War with Germany
(28 Jan 2024)

Roster Fatalities
Stateside
(28 Jan 2024)

A 28
Ba-Be 27
Bf-Bq 17
Br-Bz 30
Ca-Cm 25
Cn-Cz 27
D 34
E, F 36
G 25
Ha-He 32
Hf-Hz 23
I, J 36
K 39
L 33
Ma-Mc 38
Md-Mm 17
Mn-Mz 19
N, O 29
P 38
Q, R 31
Sa-Sh 26
Si-Ss 23
St-Sz 28
T, U, V 36
Wa-We 19
Wf-Wz 28
X-Y-Z 6
Total 750 (was 735)

Pacific Theater 254
China-Burma-India Theater 14
Total 268

Computing Pacific Total:
Pearl Harbor to Midway 45
Guadalcanal to Peleliu 63
Philippines to Okinawa 69
Other less CBI (91-14) 77
Total 254

Atlantic Theater 14
Mediterranean Theater 111
European Theater 264
Total 389

Computing MTO Total:
North Africa 32
Italy 54
Air, Sea, CommZ 25
Total (for above) 111

Computing ETO Total:
France 46
Border Areas 86
Germany 51
Air, Sea, CommZ 81
Total (for above) 264

Within the US 91
Latin America 2
Total 93

The following tables are incomplete.

Burial and Memorial Counts from First Line of Roster Records Navigation Bar
Name Roster Single Group Mem. Other
Range Count Burial Burial
A 28 20 2 6 0
Ba-Be 27 19 0 8 0
Bf-Bq 17
Br-Bz 30
Ca-Cm 25
Cn-Cz 27
D 34
E-F 36
G 25
Ha-He 32
Hf-Hz 23
I-J 37
K 39
L 33
Totals

Burial and Memorial Counts from Second Line of Roster Records Navigation Bar
Name Roster Single Group Mem. Other
Range Count Burial Burial
Ma-Mc 38
Md-Mm 17
Mn-Mz 19
Totals 74

Burial and Memorial Counts from Third Line of Roster Records Navigation Bar
Name Roster Single Group Mem. Other
Range Count Burial Burial
N-O 29
P 38
Q-R 31
Sa-Sh 26
Si-Ss 23
St-Sz 28
T-U-V 36
Wa-We 19
Wf-Wz 28
X-Y-Z 6
Totals:

Roster Fatalities Commentary

In theater, in both the War with Japan and the War with Germany, United States armed forces rear echelon deaths among support troops were relatively uncommon, except for accidents.

This was the first major war in which United States military personnel did not suffer a large percentage of deaths from disease.
Most Army Air Force deaths were among flight crews.

Most other Army and Marine deaths were among divisional troops.
Most Navy deaths were among ship or air crew members.

An exception is the large number of prisoners of war captured by the Japanese in the 1942 Philippines tragedy who subsequently died, mostly from mistreatment or friendly fire.

About WWII Roster Fatalities in the Contiguous United States (not current)
Of the over 600 WWII Roster dead, 69 (old count) died stateside while in service, nearly half in aircraft accidents.
The number of accidental aviation deaths during WWII, both stateside and in theater, was horrendous.

Deaths not due to disease: (total 49)

Aircraft Accidents – 32
Motor Vehicle Accidents, inc. pedestrians – 10
Weapons Training Accidents - 1
Drowning – 3
Fall – 1
Exposure - 1
Asphyxiation – 1
Murder - 1

Deaths due to disease: (total 9)

Peritonitis & Septicemia – 3
Pneumonia – 2
Tuberculosis – 1
Scarlet Fever – 1
Kidney Disease – 2

Cause of death unknown: 6

Part 3 - Tabulating Roster Member Burial and Memorial Data
(under development Oct 2024)

Roster Records
(from Part 2)
A 28
Ba-Bm 36
Bn-Bz 38
Ca-Cm 25
Cn-Cz 27
D 34
E, F 36
G 25
Ha-He 32
Hf-Hz 23
I, J 36
K 39
L 33
Ma-Mm 55
Mn-Mz 19
N, O 29
P 38
Q, R 31
Sa-Sm 36
Sn-Sz 41
T, U, V 36
Wa-We 19
Wf-Wz 28
X-Y-Z 6
Total 750 (was 735)

Burials
(excluding at sea)
22
28
27

Memorials

6
8
11

Anomalies
to Resolve

Part 4 - Anomalies (may move elsewhere after completion) done through H

Group Burial:

Alter, Earl Carlton - Jefferson Barracks Natl. Cem.
Blizzard, Howard Leslie - maybe Natl. Cem. of the Pacific
Bostedt, Glen Charles - Zachary Taylor Natl. Cem., Louisville, KY
Davis, August William Jr. - Jefferson Barracks Natl. Cem.
Gettys, Joe Lynam Jr. - Jefferson Barracks Natl. Cem.
Grett, Gerald LaVern - Memphis Natl. Cem., Memphis, TN.
Hansen, Hans Folmer Rattenborg Jr., USS Pickney - Jefferson Barracks Natl. Cem.
Heberlee, Henry Leroy - Ft. McPherson Natl. Cem.
Hetrick, Jacob Alvin - Jefferson Barracks Natl. Cem.
Hildebrand, Gilbert Dean - Camp Butler Natl. Cem., Springfield, IL
....
Sorenson, Robert H. - Arlington Natl. Cem.

In Roster but not an Armed Forces Member:

Curry, Jack Benton - US Merchant Marine, SS Pan Massachusetts
Goodwin, Ralph H. - Morrison-Knutson employee captured at Wake Island
Johnson, Arthur Burdick - US Merchant Marine, stranded in Manila, Philippines when war began
Kraschel, Richard Nelson - Bell Aircraft test pilot
McLaurin, William Harold - US Merchant Marine,

Buried at Sea:

Christensen, Darwin Arthur - Courts of the Missing, Natl. Cem. of the Pacific, Honolulu
Isbell, Arnold J. - Courts of the Missing, Natl. Cem. of the Pacific, Honolulu
Leach, William Ellsworth - Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cem.
Mowrey, Robert Edward - Courts of the Missing, Natl. Cem. of the Pacific, Honolulu.

Can't Find Burial or Memorial Information:

Bates, Stuart McCain
Copeland, Donald Walter - missing on training flight from continental US over Atlantic.
Garrean, Elwood Eugene - missing on training flight from continental US over Gulf of Mexico.
Heckman, Fred Herman - swept overboard on USS Ibex (IX-119) day after leaving San Pedro, CA bound for Noumea, New Caledonia.
Rannells, Robert Vance - appears in abmc.gov database with surname of Rannels.
Ripley, William Lewis? - missing on flight near continental US after cessation of hostilities
Stranathan, Dale Chester - appears in abmc.gov database with surname of Stranahan.
Viberg, Oscar Nels - died in California

Recent Changes from Body not Recovered to Buried:

McKeeman, Burt Eugene -

Part 4 - About the Pottawattamie Area Ancillary WWII-Era Dead

97 known Pottawattamie area WWII veterans died after separation from service but before the end of 1950.
I can safely say that several of these veterans died from consequences of their service. However, I initially assumed that many of these veterans died from injuries or exotic diseases due to their previous service. This was not the case. Nearly half died from accidents, over half of the others from noninfectious diseases.

The following now out-of-date list was compiled from Jun 2021 data.

Deaths not due to disease: (total 30)

Motor Vehicle Accidents - 12
Other Work-related Accidents - 10
Suicide - 4
Asphyxiation, not work related - 2
Hunting - 1
Murder - 1

Cause of death unknown: 2

Deaths due to disease: (total 20)

Cancer - 6
Peritonitis & Septicemia - 5
Cardiovascular issues - 4
Organ Failure - 2
Alcoholism - 1
Tuberculosis - 1
Meningitis - 1

Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Roster > Roster Addenda > Aggregate Roster Data webpage:

The webpage header photo, National WWII Memorial, is courtesy of https://washington.org/dc-guide-to/national-world-war-ii-memorial.