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                    bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Dead > Roster Hub > Roster La-Le, © 2025 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 10 May 2025
​                    Part 19/38 of the Pottawattamie Area World War II Dead Roster, 21 "La-Le" records
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† Landon, Arnold Dale, SN 20-706-405, US Army, Cass Co.
  • b. 6 Jun 1920 Cumberland, Cass Co.; s/o Demas A. Landon (b. Clayton Co.) & Bessie A. Brown (b. Cass Co.); family moved to Atlantic, Cass Co. in late 1920s.
  • entered service with National Guard 10 Feb 1941 at Atlantic, Cass Co.; service credited to Cass Co.; buried Victoria Cem., Massena, Cass Co.
  • Co. K (Atlantic), 168th Inf. Regt., transferred to Anti-tank Co., 133rd Inf. Regt., both 34th Inf. Div., VI Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 22 May 1944 Anzio Beachhead, Lazio, Italy.
  • The MTO > Italy > Battle of Anzio.

† Lane, Kit Carson, SN 0-463-136, US Army, Audubon Co.
  • b. 10 Jul 1898 Pittsburg, near Keosauqua, Van Buren Co. s/o Frank D. Lane & Libbie J. Hayward, both b. Wisconsin; family moved to Audubon, Audubon Co. in 1910s;
  • married Mary A. Jensen of Audubon 1925, one child.
  • entered service 23 Apr 1942 from Audubon, Audubon Co.; service credited to Audubon Co.; buried Maple Grove Cem., Audubon.
  • MP detachment, 1604th Service Unit,  based at Fort Brady, Sault Ste. Marie, MI; d. 22 Apr 1943 Station Hospital, Fort Custer, Battle Creek, MI; cerebral hemorrhage.
  • Notes: WWI service with Co. K, 168th Inf. Regt.

† Lang, Richard Waddell, SN 37-481-349, US Army, Cass Co.
  • b. 19 Feb 1925 Atlantic, Cass Co.; s/o Claude Melvin Lang (b. Atlantic) & Myrtle Lela Waddell (b. Co. Bluffs).
  • entered service 21 Jun 1943 from Atlantic, Cass Co.; service credited to Carroll Co., reason unknown; buried Atlantic Cem.
  • Co. B, 135th Inf. Regt., 34th Inf. Div., Fifth Army; KIA 8 Feb 1944 near Cassino, Lazio, Italy.
  • First Battle of Monte Cassino - The MTO > Italy > Cassino/The Gustav Line.

† Larsen, Lester Morris, SN 17-003-312, US Army Air Force, Pott. Co.
  • b. 12 Aug 1921 Co. Bluffs; s/o Jacob Larsen (b. Denmark) & Anna F. (Teserak) Mestanek (b. Nebraska); Jacob and Anna moved to Omaha in late 1930s and to Greeley, CO in 1940s, while Lester and his brother remained in Co. Bluffs.
  • enlisted 23 Aug 1940 at Fort Des Moines, Polk Co. from Pott. Co.; service credited to Pott. Co.; buried Fort McPherson Natl. Cem., Maxwell, Lincoln Co., NE.
  • 37th Bomb. Sqdn., 17th Bomb. Gp., XII Bomber Cmd., based at Telergma, SW of Constantine, Algeria, North Africa; Martin B-26 Marauder; DNB 16 Mar 1943 North Africa, aircraft accident.
  • The MTO > MTO Air War.

† Larson, Darwin Norville, SN 37-435-093, US Army, Montgomery Co.
  • b. 29 Jun 1909 rural Grant, Douglas Twp., Montgomery Co.; s/o Lars O. Larson (b. Livingston Co., IL) & Rebecca Mae Irwin (b. Nodaway, Adams Co.; d. 1942).
  • Douglas Twp. resident through 1940.
  • entered service 9 Oct 1942; service credited to Montgomery Co.; buried Luxembourg American Cem., Hamm, Luxembourg.
  • 737th Tank Bn., attached to 5th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 23 Feb. 1945 approaching Bitburg, Rhineland-Palatine, Germany.
  • The ETO > Siegfried Line, 1945 > XII Corps to Bitburg.

† Larson, Paul Lewis "Doc", SN 321-30-06, US Navy, Shelby Co.
  • b. 26 Dec 1920 Irwin, Shelby Co.; s/o Roy L. Larson & Anna W. Paulsen both b. Irwin.
  • married M. Caryl Rush.
  • entered service 21 Feb 1939 from Irwin, Shelby Co.; next of kin wife, Mrs. M. Caryl Larson, 2306 Loma Vista Pl., Los Angeles, CA; body not recovered; memorialized Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cem., Luzon, Philippines; cenotaph Oak Hill Cem., Irwin.
  • Submarine USS Tang (SS-306); KIA 25 Oct 1944 in Formosa Strait, west of Formosa; Tang sunk by circular run of its own torpedo; 69 died, nine survived.
  • Naval War with Japan > US Submarine Force.

† Lathrop, Harold Verne, SN 37-737-163, US Army, Sedgwick Co., KS
  • b. Co. Bluffs 25 Sep 1913; s/o Ethal C. Lathrop (b. Mahaska Co.) & Golda S. Scott (b. Sedgwick Co., KS); parents divorced.
  • married Anna L. Liming 1939, two children; living in Wichita, Sedgwick Co., KS in April 1940.
  • entered service 17 Mar 1944 at Fort Leavenworth, KS from Sedgwick Co. KS; service credited to Sedgwick Co., KS; buried Ardennes American Cem., Neupre, SW of Liege, Belgium.​
  • 18th Inf. Regt., 1st Inf. Div., V Corps, First Army; FOD/KIA 29 Dec 1944 near Bütgenbach, NE of St. Vith, Belgium.
  • The ETO > Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Contained.

† LaVars, Kenneth Charles, SN 393-32-67, US Navy, Montgomery Co.
  • b. 7 Jun 1915 Pomona, Los Angeles Co., CA; s/o Herald F. LaVars (b. Los Angeles Co., CA) & Ruth Wikoff (b. Rush Co., IN); parents divorced; mother married Charles S. Hagermaster 1928 and moved to Villisca, Montgomery Co.
  • entered service 8 Dec 1939 from Portland, Multnomah Co., OR; next of kin mother, Mrs. Ruth Hagermaster, Villisca, Montgomery Co.; body not recovered; memorialized Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cem., Luzon, Philippines.
  • came on board Escort Carrier USS Salamaua (CVE-96) 26 May 1944; Salamaua assigned to Task Unit 77.4.1 of the Seventh Fleet for the Luzon, Philippines invasion; KIA 13 Jan 1945 South China Sea, 80 miles west of Lingayen Gulf, Luzon; Salamaua was waiting to refuel at sea when hit by kamikaze carrying two bombs; 19 died (14 buried at sea five missing); Salamaua survived.
  • Philippines Liberated > Philippines Naval War.

​Lawson, Herschal Vernon, SN 37-466-733, US Army, Montgomery Co.
  • b. 14 Nov 2020 near Hamburg, Fremont Co.; s/o Vernon S. Lawson (b. Page Co.) & Peggy E. A. Greenlee (b. Fremont Co.).
  • entered service 15 Dec 1942 from Red Oak, Montgomery Co.; service credited to Montgomery Co.; buried Evergreen Cem., Red Oak.
  • Co. A, Supply Bn., 14th Armored Div.; d. 29 May 1943 Camp Chaffee Hospital, Bloomer, Sebastian Co., AR; vehicle accident with major spinal injuries.

† Lawton, Kenneth Burdette, SN 0-738-191, US Army Air Force, Cass Co.
  • b. 22 May 1921 Lewis, Cass Co.; s/o Joseph W. Lawton & Hazel G. Baxter, both b. Mills Co.
  • entered service 26 Mar 1942 from Lewis, Cass Co.; service credited to Cass Co.; group burial of crew at Fort McPherson Natl. Cem., Maxwell, Lincoln Co., NE.
  • 822 Bomb. Sqdn., 38th Bomb. Gp., Fifth Air Force; stationed at 17 Mile Drome near Port Moresby, Papua, New Guinea; North American B-25G-5 Mitchell #42-64827 co-pilot with pilot Ralph E. Freek; KIA 16 Jan 1944 near Ulingan Bay, NNW of Madang, Papua, New Guinea; while flying the coastal area searching for Japanese barges, flight was attacked by Japanese fighters, aircraft crashed on shore killing all six crew.
  • Operation Cartwheel - Air Force War with Japan > Fifth Air Force.

† Leach, William Ellsworth, SN 631-07-23, US Navy, Pott. Co.
  • b. about 1923 Nebraska; s/o Leslie Ellsworth Leach (b. Ontario, Canada) & Margaret M. Gough (b. Leavenworth Co., KS); family lived in Co. Bluffs in the late 1930s.
  • enlisted 22 May 1943 from Little Rock, Pulaski Co., AR ; next of kin parents, Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Ellsworth Leach, Box 1018, Muskogee, OK; buried at sea; memorialized Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cem., Luzon, Philippines.
  • Destroyer USS Bailey (DD-492); KIA 1 Oct 1944, off Palau Is., east of the Philippines; Bailey strafed by Japanese aircraft, nine died.
  • Naval War with Japan > Third & Fifth Fleets.

​† Learned, Bradley Eugene, SN 17-047-210, US Army Air Force, Wright Co., MN 
  • b. 28 Mar 1920 Wright Co., MN; s/o Abijah E. Learned (b. Clinton Co., PA) & Mabel M. Redmond (b. Wright Co., MN).
  • graduated from Iowa State College 1940; subsequently employed in Canton, IL; brother in law of Roland Linus Carlson, also in the roster.
  • entered service from Wright Co., MN at Fort Snelling, MN 9 Jan 1942; service credited to Wright Co., MN; body not recovered; memorialized Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cem., Coton, Cambridgeshire, England; cenotaph Lakeview Cem., Buffalo, Wright Co., MN.
  • 508th Bomb Sqdn. 351st Bomb Gp., Eighth Air Force based between Leicester and Cambridge at Polebrook, Northamptonshire, England; Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress #42-29817 ball turret gunner with pilot William C. King; KIA 28 Jun 1943 over the Bay of Biscay after completion of mission over St. Nazaire, France; aircraft lost two engines after Luftwaffe attack, glided into water and exploded; four POW & six KIA.
  • The ETO > ETO Air War > Eighth Air Force.

† Lee, Delbert Donald, SN 17-040-250, US Army, Cass Co.
  • b. 25 Sep 1921 Cumberland, Cass Co.; s/o Delbert J. Lee (b. Wright Co., MO) & Pearl Uhlmann (b. Douglas Co., MO); family moved to Cass Co. in the late 1910s.
  • entered service 26 Jan 1942 from Cumberland, Cass Co.; service credited to Cass Co.; buried Greenwood Cem., Cumberland.
  • Co. A, 610th Tank Destroyer Bn., attached to 80th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 8 Jan 1945 Dahl, SE of Wiltz, Luxembourg.
  • The ETO > Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated.
  • Notes: During the 8 January combat in Dahl, Delbert Lee's unit, Co. A, 610th Tank Destroyer Bn., was supporting the 319th Inf. Regt. Delbert Lee received a posthumous Distinguished Service Cross and Day Turner of Co. B, 319th Regt., received a posthumous Medal of Honor.

† Lee, Raymond Nathan, SN 320-153, US Marine Corps, Pott. Co.
  • b. 16 Dec 1923 Dunlap, Harrison Co.; s/o Robert N. Lee (b. Livingston Co., IL; d. 1936) & Florence E. Parris (b. Cass Co.; d. 1933); eleven siblings; family moved to Co. Bluffs in early 1930s.
  • entered service 13 Aug 1941 from Co. Bluffs; next of kin sister, Miss Viola Moores, 132 N. 37th St., Omaha, NE; body not recovered; memorialized Courts of the Missing, Natl. Cem. of the Pacific., Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii.
  • Co. C, 8th Marine Regt., 2nd Marine Div.; KIA 21 Nov 1943 Betio Is., Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Is.
  • Battle of Tarawa - Central Pacific > Gilbert Islands.

† Lee, Theodore Evans, SN 0-772-418, US Army Air Force, Mills Co. & San Luis Obispo Co., CA
  • b. 24 May 1924 Pacific Jct., Mills Co. s/o Theodore S. Lee & Viva L. Evans, both b. Mills Co.; family moved from Glenwood, Mills Co. to California about 1935.
  • entered service from San Luis Obispo Co., CA; service credited to San Luis Obispo Co.; buried Golden Gate Natl. Cem., San Bruno, San Mateo Co., CA.
  • unit unknown; KIA 5 Dec 1944 Noomfoor Is., Dutch New Guinea.
  • Air Force War with Japan > Thirteenth Air Force.

† Leet, John Drexel Sr., SN 37-267-578, US Army, Mills Co.
  • b. 2 Apr 1922 Glenwood, Mills Co.; s/o John T. Leet (b. Glenwood, Mills Co.) & Wilda V. Wickersham (b. Onawa, Monona Co.).
  • married Evelyn B. Hinton of Ringgold Co. Jul 1942, one child.
  • entered service 26 Oct 1942 from Glenwood, Mills Co.; service credited to Mills Co.; buried Glenwood Cem.
  • Co. B, 382nd Inf. Regt., 96th Inf. Div., KIA 4 Nov 1944 Bloody Ridge, west of Dagami, Leyte, Philippines.
  • Philippines Liberated > Leyte.

Lein, Robert Eugene - see Duffy, Robert Eugene
​
† Lembke, Orlan Palmer, SN 37-121-080, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • b. 25 Mar 1911 rural Griswold, Grove Twp., Pott. Co.; s/o George Lembke (b. Griswold, Cass Co.) & Ethel E. Palmer (b. Oto, Woodbury Co.). 
  • entered service 20 Apr 1942 from rural Griswold; Grove Twp., Pott. Co.; service credited to Pott. Co.; buried Wheeler Grove Cem., rural Carson, Pott. Co.
  • Co. H, 7th Inf. Regt., 3rd Inf. Div., VI Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 16 Oct 1943 Dragoni, north of Caserta, Italy.
  • The MTO > Italy > The Volturno Line.

† Leonard, Stanley William, SN 37-260-819, US Army, Cass Co.
  • b. 14 Jan 1914 Waveland Twp., Pott Co.; s/o Joseph H. Leonard (b. Waveland Twp., Pott. Co.) & Susan J. Hartness (b. Macedonia, Pott. Co.); family lived in Waveland Twp.
  • entered service 9 Sep 1942 from Rt. 2, Griswold, Cass Co.; service credited to Cass Co.; buried Flint Cem., Waveland Twp., Pott. Co.
  • Co. A, 12th Inf. Regt., 4th Inf. Div., First Army; KIA 16 Sep 1944 in the Schnee Eifel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany about 25 miles east of St. Vith, Belgium.
  • Battle of the Schnee Eifel - The ETO > War of Attrition > V Corps at the West Wall.

† Lesch, Joseph Ferdinand, SN 37-471-901, US Army Air Force, Harrison Co.
  • b. 2 Sep 1922 Defiance, Shelby Co.; s/o Ferdinand H. Lesch (b. Lyon Co., KS) & Mary A. Pimple (b. Westphalia, Shelby Co.); family moved to rural Dunlap, Harrison Co. before 1925.
  • worked for Safeway stores in Fremont, NE before entering service.
  • entered service Jan 1943 from Dunlap, Harrison Co.; service credited to Harrison Co.; buried Pleasant Hill Cem., Dunlap.
  • 529th Bomb. Sqdn., 380th Bomb. Gp., Fifth Air Force, based at McGuire Field, Mindoro Is., Philippines; Consolidated B-24J Liberator #44-40801 Squaw Peak radio operator with pilot Francis V. See Jr.; KIA 15 Apr 1945 over Formosa on raid to Shinshoshi Airdrome; aircraft exploded in mid-air from anti-aircraft fire or hit by bomb dropped from a higher aircraft; crew of 11, five died.
  • Air Force War with Japan > Fifth Air Force.

† Leu, Robert Carroll, SN 381-47-66, US Navy, Pott. Co.
  • b. 20 Apr 1920 Tabor, Fremont Co.; s/o Arthur Leu (b. Hastings, Mills Co.) & Laura Green (b. Tabor, Millls Co.) family moved to Co. Bluffs in late 1930s and to York, NE in the 1940s.
  • lived in Berkeley, CA 1941.
  • enlisted 22 Jun 1942; next of kin parents, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Emil Leu, 24 Benton St., Council Bluffs, IA; buried Greenwood Cem., York, York Co., NE.
  • Navy signalman, unit unknown; arrived in Guadalcanal, Solomon Is. Apr 1943 from Noumea, New Caledonia on Attack Transport President Jackson (APA-18); DNB 16 Mar 1944 in fall from radio tower on Solomon Is.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas.

​† Lewis, Harold Joseph, SN 37-698-156, US Army, Cass & Audubon Cos.
  • b. 28 Sep 1914 rural Elliott, Montgomery Co., IA; s/o John W. Lewis (b. Missouri) & Mary A. Wright (b. Marcelline, Linn Co., MO).
  • married Desda R. Winterstein of Griswold, Cass Co. Aug 1934 in Marcelline, Linn Co., MO, four children; moved from Cass Co. to Exira, Audubon Co. early 1940s.
  • entered service 7 Jun 1944 from Exira, Audubon Co.; service credited to Audubon Co.; buried Hillside Cem., Elliott, Montgomery Co.
  • Co. E, 85th Mountain Inf. Regt., 10th Mountain Inf. Div.; KIA 15 Apr 1945 near Castel d’Aiano, 25 miles south of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
  • The MTO > Italy > The Po Valley.
  • Notes: Killed during the April 1945 Fifth Army breakout from the northern Apennine Mountains into the Po River Valley; Bob Dole, later senator from Kansas and also from the 85th Inf. Regt., was seriously injured the previous day.
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