bigpigeon.us webpage Avoca > Gold Star Avoca, updated by RAC 18 Jan '19.

This webpage lists Avoca, Iowa area residents who died while in their nation’s military service. 
  • It includes service branch and burial location (Graceland Cemetery is 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 bigpigeon.us website Home page.

Part 1 - Gold Star Avoca Rosters.

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)
The twentyone in the above World War II 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 F. Newman died while attempted to escape from Japanese captivity in the Philippines.
  • Southwest Pacific naval battles: Walter August William Lueth and Edmund Wunder died during the series of 1942 naval battles.
  • Southwest Pacific ground combat: Herman Edward Staub died in New Guinea, and Dale George Maassen on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands.
  • Southwest Pacific air action: Edmund Earl Wunder and Jerome C. Trobaugh died from aircraft accidents while on missions.
  • Roy Marion Pedersen Jr. died over Japan on a bombing run from Okinawa in the closing days of the war.
Nine died in the war in Europe:
  • Earl E. Card and Dean Anderson Hiley died in ground combat in southern Italy.
  • Melvin Chris Thies died flying from Italy on a bombing mission over Romania.
  • In ground combat in western Europe - Laverne Henry Paulsen during the Normandy breakout, Roy Robert Ronnfeldt in December and John Angus "Jack" Rold in March while attempting a Siegfried Line breakthrough on the Saar River on the France-German border, and Leonard Carl Frahm crossing the Rhine.
  • Lawrence George "Larry" Hansen died of wounds received during the Battle of the Bulge.
  • Robert Edward Putnam died from an accidental firearm discharge after the war ended.
Four died in the United States:
Korean War - 1950-1953
none known

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

Cold War Era
  • Melvin Leslie Sweet - Air Force, Graceland Cemetery

Middle East Wars
none known

Part 2 - Gold Star Avoca Notes.

The following servicemen with unrecovered bodies are memorialized in the listed cemetery:
  • WW II: Walter Lueth - Manila American Cemetery
  • WW II: Shelby F. Newman - Manila American Cemetery
  • WW II: Jerome Trobough - Manila American Cemetery
  • WW II: Edmund Earl Wunder - Manila American Cemetery
  • WW II: 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.
  • WW I: William Henry “Will” Niemann Jr. - wife Emma Marie Wisch, son Roy.
  • WW II: Lawrence George Hansen - wife Darlene Edna Conklin, twin sons Timothy and Thomas.
  • WW II: Shelby F. Newman - wife Doris Irene Dahlberg.
  • WW II: Frederick Theodore Rohlfs - wife Thelma Jane Lewis, sons Frederick and Edward.
  • WW II: Jerome Carroll "Jerry" Trobough - wife Catherine Agnes Knight


A publication entitled Avoca Service Record, World War II, Avoca and Community was prepared by Glen Henderson and his 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 in 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, was born and raised near Mitchell, South Dakota, returned to Iowa, and married an Avoca woman, 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.

https://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww2/army-casualties/iowa.html lists World War II Iowa Gold Star 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
  • Pottawattamie County, Iowa: Card, Earl E., KIA; Hiley, Dean A., KIA; Paulsen, LaVerne H., KIA; 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
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.

https://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww2/navy-casualties/iowa.html lists World War II Iowa Gold Star 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).
Credits:
  • The gold star flag used in the header image is courtesy of Wikimedia.