Gold Star Flag
Gold Star Banner - three fatalities
bigpigeon.us webpage Pott. Co. > Avoca > Gold Star Avoca, updated by RAC 18 Dec 2023.
  • This webpage lists known Avoca, Iowa area residents who died while in their nation’s military service. 
  • It includes service branch and burial location. About half are buried in Graceland Cemetery, the large cemetery in north Avoca. 
  • For each World War II fatality, click the hotspot for family information.
  • Send additions, corrections, and queries via the Contact Form at the Usage Hints webpage.
Part 1 - Gold Star Avoca Rosters for the Various Wars
Civil War - 1861-1865
  • Jackson Headlee - Army

Spanish American War and Philippines Insurrection - 1898-1902
  • Oscar Dollen - Army, Graceland Cemetery
  • John W. “Johnny” Long - Army, Graceland Cemetery
  • Edwin “Ed” Wood - Army, Graceland Cemetery

Mexican Border War - 1910-1919
  • Arthur Dale Conner - Army, Graceland Cemetery

World War I - 1914-1918 (US involvement 1917-1918)
  • William Henry “Will” Niemann Jr. - Army, Graceland Cemetery

World War II - 1939-1945 (US Involvement 1941-1945) (click on name to see brief family report)
Korean War - 1950-1953
none known

Vietnam - 1965-1973
  • David Bruce Anderson - Marine Corps, Graceland Cemetery
  • Roger Eugene Carroll - Army, awarded Distinguished Service Cross, Graceland Cemetery
  • Dennis D. Leslie - Army, died in the US, Graceland Cemetery
  • Alan Dale Piittmann - Air Force, body not recovered, still listed as missing in action

Cold War Era
  • Melvin Leslie Sweet - Air Force, died in the US, Graceland Cemetery

Middle East Wars
none known

The following servicemen with unrecovered bodies are memorialized in the listed cemetery:
  • WWII: Walter Lueth - Manila American Cemetery
  • WWII: Shelby F. Newman - Manila American Cemetery
  • WWII: Jerome Trobough - Manila American Cemetery
  • WWII: Edmund Earl Wunder - Manila American Cemetery
  • WWII: Frank Grant Wunder, Jr. - Manila American Cemetery
  • Vietnam: Alan Dale Piittmann - Shelby Cemetery and National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific

​The following servicemen are known to have been married:
  • Mexican Border War: Arthur Dale Conner - wife Hazel Verne Beck.
  • WWI: William Henry “Will” Niemann Jr. - wife Emma Marie Wisch, son Roy.
  • WWII: Lawrence George Hansen - wife Darlene Edna Conklin, twin sons Timothy and Thomas.
  • WWII: Shelby F. Newman - wife Doris Irene Dahlberg.
  • WWII: Frederick Theodore Rohlfs - wife Thelma Jane Lewis, sons Frederick and Edward.
  • WWII: Jerome Carroll "Jerry" Trobough - wife Catherine Agnes Knight
Part 2 - More about the World War II Avoca Area Dead
The Avoca Area WWII Dead - Their Death Locations The 21 in the above WWII list died in locations around the world. Clicking on a hotspotted name opens  a webpage containing some information about death circumstances.

Eight died in the war with Japan:
  • Shelby Fearn Newman in December 1944 in the Philippines while attempted to escape from Japanese captivity.
  • Walter August William Lueth and Edmund Earl Wunder in November 1942 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
  • Herman Edward Staub in January 1943 in ground combat near Buna, New Guinea, and Dale George Maassen in July 1943 in ground combat on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands.
  • Frank Grant Wunder in October 1943 and Jerome Carroll Trobaugh in August 1944 from aircraft accidents while on missions in the Southwest Pacific.
  • Roy Marion Pedersen Jr. in July 1945 shot down over Japan on a bombing raid. His crew mates were taken prisoner and most died on 6 August 1945 in Hiroshima as a consequence of the first nuclear bombing.

Nine died in the war in Europe:
  • Earl E. Card in November 1943 and Dean Anderson Hiley in January 1945 in ground combat in southern Italy.
  • Melvin Chris Thies in August 1944 flying from Italy on a bombing mission over the Romanian oil fields.
  • Laverne Henry Paulsen in July 1944 during the Normandy breakout.
  • Roy Robert Ronnfeldt in December 1944 and John Angus "Jack" Rold in March 1945 near the Siegfried Line on the Saar River on the France-German border.
  • Lawrence George "Larry" Hansen in January 1945 from wounds received during the Battle of the Bulge.
  • Leonard Carl Frahm in March 1945 crossing the Rhine River.
  • Robert Edward Putnam in November 1945 from an accidental firearm discharge after the war ended.

​Four died in the United Staes.
One died while in service: Two died after separation from service:
  • Alvin Vernon Niemann, in the Veterans Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska.
  • Frederick Theodore Rohlfs in an automobile accident in Iowa.
One died after WWII while still in service:
  • Margaret Frances Olesen, in Brook Army Hospital in San Antonio, Texas.

The Avoca Area WWII Dead - Their Home Locations

The 1946 War Department list of WWII dead for Iowa, https://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww2/army-casualties/iowa.html, lists dead Army members by county. These lists contain name, serial number, rank, and cause of death. Therein I found:
Cass County, Iowa:
  • Rold, John A., DOW
Polk County, Iowa:
  • Newman, Shelby F.,  KIA
Pottawattamie County, Iowa:
  • Card, Earl E., KIA
  • Hiley, Dean A., KIA
  • Paulsen, LaVerne H., KIA
  • Putman (sic), Robert E., DNB
  • Ronnefeldt, Roy R., KIA
  • Staub, Herman E., KIA
  • Thies, Melvin C., KIA
  • Wunder, Frank C. Jr., FOD
Shelby County, Iowa:
  • Frahm, Leonard C., KIA
  • Hansen, Lawrence G., DOW
Douglas County, Nebraska:
  • Trobough, Jerome C., KIA
Unknown County:
  • Pedersen, Roy Marion Jr., KIA
​About the above list:
  • During World War II, the Air Force was part of the Army.
  • KIA = Killed in Action; DOW = Died of Wounds; FOD = Finding of Death; DNB = Died Non-Battle

The 1946 Navy Department list of WWII dead for Iowa, https://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww2/navy-casualties/iowa.html, lists dead Navy and Marine members, but not organized by county. These lists contain name, rank, and next of kin address. Therein I found:
  • Lueth, Walter, Chief Machinists Mate (page 11)
  • Maassen, Dale G., Private First Class (page 11);
  • Wunder, Edmund Earl, Boilermaker First Class (page 20).
Omitted from the Navy list, having died from non-operational causes, such as training accidents or disease:
  • Dea, James David, Ensign

Local Source A publication entitled Avoca Service Record, World War II, Avoca and Community was prepared by Glen Henderson's Boy Scout troop soon after World War II ended. Not appearing in the Avoca Service Record book:
  • James David Dea - from Pleasant Township, west of Avoca. Attended Shelby High School.
  • Leonard Carl Frahm - born rural Hancock, lived in Walnut and Shelby areas. Family eventually lived in Harlan.
  • Lawrence George Hansen - family roots are in Fairview Township, north of Avoca. Born and raised near Mitchell, South Dakota, returned to Iowa, and married an Avoca woman. Their twin children attended Avoca elementary school.
  • John Angus “Jack” Rold - born north of Avoca in Fairview Township, family moved to rural Atlantic in 1929.
  • Melvin Chris Thies - from Pleasant Township, west of Avoca.
  • Jerome Carroll Trobough - grandson of Ed Carroll of Avoca, family moved from Avoca to Omaha in the 1930s.
  • Edmund Earl Wunder - from Harlan, brother of the late Victor Wunder of Avoca.
  • Frank Grant Wunder, Jr. - from rural Minden, brother of the late Dr. Robert Wunder of Avoca.

Sources for Big Pigeon's Avoca > Gold Star Avoca webpage:
  • Families who had a lost a family member could hang a gold star flag vertically in the front window. The gold star flag used in the header image is courtesy of gettysburgflag.com.​ The three stars represent three lost family members. In the Pottawattamie area, only the John & Martha Bostedt family of Glenwood and rural Council Bluffs suffered such a grievous loss, although multiple families lost two sons.