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                          bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Dead > Roster Hub > Roster Bb-Be, © 2025 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 7 Nov 2025
​                     Part 4/47 of the Pottawattamie Area World War II Dead Roster, eight "Bb-Be" records
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Beach, Paul Leonard - see Bach Paul Leonard

† Beckendorf, Orville Leroy, SN 316-41-64, US Navy, Pott. Co.
  • b. 13 Jun 1916 rural Walnut, Pott. Co.; s/o Ira C. Beckendorf & Anna L. Fries (d. 1930), both b. Pott. Co.; family lived south of Walnut in Lincoln Twp., Pott. Co., moving to Walnut in the early 1930s and to Co. Bluffs in the 1940s.
  • married Mary Bernice Johnson of Kentucky.
  • entered service 16 Jan 1935; reenlisted 4 Feb 1939 at San Diego Co., CA; next of kin wife, Mrs. O. L. Beckendorf, 2758 College St., Jacksonville, FL; body not recovered; memorialized Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cem., Luzon, Philippines; cenotaph Layton Twp. Cem., Walnut.
  • destroyer USS Laffey (DD-459); KIA 13 Nov 1942 Ironbottom Sound, north of Guadalcanal, Solomon Is.; Laffey hit by 14” shell from Japanese battleship Hiei & torpedo, then exploded & sank; 59 died, 186 survived.
  • WWII Japan > Solomon Islands > Guadalcanal Naval War @ First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 

† Beers, Harold Elmer, SN 37-476-206, US Army, Harrison Co.
  • b. 28 Nov 1923 Co. Bluffs; s/o Carl R. Beers (b. McKean Co., PA, d. 1938) & Isabelle Dick (b. Nodaway Co., MO); family lived in Crescent Twp., Pott. Co. in 1925, moving to Harrison Co. before 1930.
  • married Mary Darlene Layton of Harrison Co., one child.
  • entered service 13 Mar 1943 from Little Sioux, Harrison Co.; service credited to Harrison Co.; buried Little Sioux Cem.
  • unit unknown; stationed at Camp Cooke (now Vandenberg AFB), Santa Barbara Co., CA; d. 19 Jan 1945 in nearby Lompoc, CA from asphyxiation.

​† Benedict, George Junior, SN 37-485-642, US Army Air Force, Mills Co.
  • b. 16 Sep 1921 Tabor, Fremont Co.; s/o Fenton Eber Benedict (b. Fremont Co.) & Clara E. Lee (b. Wright Co., MO); family moved to rural Hastings, Mills Co. in late 1920s.
  • Note: named George Junior Benedict at birth, thus in military records as Benedict George J. However, family often used the names Leslie or George Leslie. 
  • worked for North American Aviation in Inglewood, CA in early 1940s; married Twyla L. Carter of Wayne Co. Nov 1944 in El Paso, TX.
  • entered service 4 Oct 1943 from Rt. 1, Hastings, Mills Co.; service credited to Mills Co.; buried Hastings Cem.
  • 731st Bomb. Sqdn., 452nd Bomb Gp., Eighth Air Force, based at Doepham Green, Norfolk, England; Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress #44-8015 Johnny Reb with pilot William T. Emmet II; KIA Pfaffenhofen an der Roth, Bavaria, near Ulm, Germany, 22 Feb 1945; aircraft broke apart approaching the target in overcast conditions; seven died, three survived.
  • Military Note: The William T. Emmet crew trained together in the US, traveled by ship to Europe, and used four different aircraft on their four missions. The crew history is well-documented at Crash of B-17 44-8015 MARC 12657.
  • WWII Germany > The ETO > ETO Air War > Eighth Air Force

† Benton, Raymond James, SN  37-112-067, US Army Air Force, Guthrie Co.
  • b. 27 Jan 1918 west of Guthrie Center in Bear Grove Twp., Guthrie Co.; s/o Samuel A. Benton & Eva Stephenson, both b. Audubon Co.; family moved to Baker Twp., Guthrie Co. in early 1920s.
  • entered service 20 Jan 1942 from rural Guthrie Center, Guthrie Co.; service credited to Guthrie Co.; body not recovered; memorialized Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cem., Coton, Cambridgeshire, England.
  • 366 Bomb. Sqdn., 305th Bomb. Gp., Eighth Air Force based at Cheveston, NW of Cambridge, England; Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress #42-102255 radio operator; KIA 3 Feb 1945; aircraft suffered flak damage during mission over Germany & ditched in North Sea; crew of nine all died.
  • WWII Germany > The ETO > ETO Air War > Eighth Air Force

​† Bergman, George Eugene, SN 37-752-394, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • b. 2 Jul 1926 Omaha; s/o John M. Bergman (b. Lancaster Co., NE) & Ruth A. Moyer (b. Douglas Co., NE); family moved to Co. Bluffs before 1925.
  • entered service 17 Sep 1944 from Co. Bluffs; service credited to Pott. Co.; buried Natl. Cem. of the Pacific, Honolulu, Oahu, HI.
  • Co. C, 384th Inf. Regt., 96th Inf. Div., XXIV Corps, Tenth Army; KIA 10 Jun 1945, enemy machine gun fire, Okinawa, Ryukyu Is., Japan.
  • WWII Japan > Iwo Jima & Okinawa > Okinawa Land Battle

​† Bernhardt, Paul Richard, SN 620-27-93, US Navy, Union Co.
  • b. 7 Aug 1920 Hamburg, Fremont Co.; adopted s/o George W. Bernhardt & Wilhelmina M. Kerkmann, both b. Cass Co.; family lived in Cass & Adams Co. before moving to Grant Twp., Union Co. in early 1930s.
  • entered service 1 Feb 1942 from Rt. 1A, Afton, Union Co; next of kin foster father, Mr. George William Bernhardt, RFD 1A, Afton, IA; body not recovered; memorialized Tablets of the Missing, North Africa American Cem., Carthage, Tunisia.
  • destroyer USS Leary (DD-158); KIA 24 Dec 1943 north of the Azores, North Atlantic; Leary sunk by submarine U-275 torpedo; 98 died.
  • WWII Germany > Battle of the Atlantic

† Berringer, Merroll Jackson, SN 0-735-025, US Army Air Force, Pott. & Page Cos.
  • b. 4 Mar 1921 Co. Bluffs; s/o Vern L. Berringer & Lula D. Jackson, both b. Page Co.; parents divorced; moved to Clarinda, Page Co. in early 1930s; mother moved to Co. Bluffs and married Ernest Baggs 1936.
  • ​married Mary Alice Larkins of Villisca, Montgomery Co. in Pierce Co., WA Feb 1943.
  • entered service 26 Mar 1942 at Omaha from Clarinda, Montgomery Co.; service credited to unknown county; body not recovered; memorialized Walls of the Missing, North Africa American Cem., Carthage, Tunisia; cenotaph Clarinda Cem.
  • Flight H, 35th Photo Reconnaisance Sqdn., Fourteenth Air Force; Lockheed F-5E Photo Lightning #44-23237 pilot; KIA 21 Nov 1944 over South China Sea; disappeared on triangular flight Suichuan-Nimrod Sound-Batanes Is., Suichuan, China.
  • WWII Japan > China-Burma-India Theater > China, 1941-45

† Berry, Kenneth Coit, SN 648-12-71, US Navy, Pott. Co.
  • b. 8 May 1919 Co. Bluffs; s/o Edwin C. Berry & Meta M. Cox; both b. Harrison Co.; parents moved from Nebraska to Co. Bluffs before 1920; parents divorced 1930s; father married Faye E. (Welch) Clark about 1942; mother married Frederick G. Richardson 1950.
  • entered service 2 Feb 1942 from Co. Bluffs; next of kin parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin C. Berry, 2319 Avenue C, Council Bluffs, IA; body not recovered; memorialized Tablets of the Missing, Sicily-Rome American Cem., Nettano, Lazio, Italy. 
  • destroyer USS Buck (DD-420); KIA 9 Oct 1943 off Capri, Naples Bay, Italy; Buck torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-616; 168 died, 94 survived.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > MTO Naval War @ Naples Bay​
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