Roster La-Le

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bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Dead > Roster > Roster La-Le, © 2025 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 22 Nov 2025
 Part 25/47 of the Pottawattamie Area World War II Dead Roster, 24 "La-Le" records
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† Lacox, Wayne Albert, SN 37-429-902, US Army Air Force, Adams Co.

b. 27 Sep 1921 Nodaway, Adams Co.; s/o Albert Eugene Lacox (b. rural Nodaway; d. 1934) & Maple Forrest Mason (b. Nodaway).
entered service 10 Sep 1942 from Rt. 2, Nodaway, Adams Co.; service credited to Story Co.; buried Methodist Grove Cem., Nodaway.
403rd Bomb Sqdn., 43rd Bomb Gp., Fifth Air Force, based at Nadzab, New Guinea; Consolidated B-24 Liberator gunner with pilot Walter Cole; KIA 3 Apr 1944 Nadzab; aircraft crashed on takeoff for bombing raid on Hollandia, Netherlands New Guinea; four died.
WWII Japan > Air Force War with Japan > Fifth Air Force

† Lake, Robert Lee, SN 37-750-121, US Army, Carroll Co.

b. 4 Apr 1926 Manning, Carroll Co.; s/o Eustace Lee Lake (b. New Market, Taylor Co.) & Pauline Anna Dorothea Ress (b. Lincoln Twp., Audubon Co.).
entered service 18 Aug 1944 from Manning, Carroll Co.; service credited to Carroll Co.; buried Manning Cem.
Co. F, 2nd Inf. Regt, 5th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 19 Feb 1945 approaching Bitburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
WWII Germany > The ETO > Siegfried Line, 1945 > XII Corps to Bitburg

† 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.
WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > 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.
Notes: WWI service with Co. K, 168th Inf. Regt., 42nd Inf. Div.
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.

† 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., II Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 8 Feb 1944 near Cassino, Lazio, Italy.
WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > Cassino 1

† 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.
WWII Germany > 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, three miles east of Luxembourg City center.
737th Tank Bn., attached to 5th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 23 Feb. 1945 approaching Bitburg, Rhineland-Palatine, Germany.
WWII 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.
WWII Japan > 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.
WWII Germany > The ETO > Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Contained

† Lauridsen, Omar Hans, SN 0-2-064508, US Army Air Force, Carroll Co. & Richland Co., IL

b. 19 Dec 1916 Dedham, Carroll Co.; s/o Hans Lauridsen Negendahl (b. Denmark) & Christine Claussen (b. Denmark.)
moved to Olney, Richland Co., IL as a young man; married Claribelle "Clara" Bakken Jun 1942 in Minneapolis, MN.
entered service 24 Jun 1943 from Dedham, Carroll Co.; service credited to Carroll Co.; buried Carroll City Cem., Carroll Co.
329th Base Unit (combat crew training school), Alexandria Field, LA; Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress #42-30983 navigator with pilot Russell L. Cobbs; DNB 3 Mar 1945 six miles southwest of Winnfield, Winn Parish, LA; aircraft exploded and crashed while on a training flight from Alexandria Field; all eleven died.

† 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.
WWII Japan > Philippines Liberated > Philippines Naval War

Lawson, Herschal Vernon, SN 37-466-733, US Army, Montgomery Co.

b. 14 Nov 1920 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.
WWII Japan > Air Force War with Japan > Fifth Air Force @ Operation Cartwheel

† 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 Mindanao, Philippines; Bailey strafed by Japanese aircraft, nine died.
WWII Japan > 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.
Family History Note: brother-in-law of Roland Linus Carlson, who is 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.
WWII Germany > 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.
Military Notes: posthumous Distinguished Service Cross; during the 8 January combat in Dahl, Delbert Lee's unit, Co. A, 610th Tank Destroyer Bn., was supporting the 319th Inf. Regt.; Day Turner of Co. B, 319th Inf. Regt., received a posthumous Medal of Honor.
WWII Germany > The ETO > Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated

† 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.
WWII Japan > Central Pacific > Gilbert Islands @ Battle of Tarawa

† 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., Netherlands New Guinea.
WWII Japan > 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., XXIV Corps, Sixth Army; KIA 4 Nov 1944 Bloody Ridge, west of Dagami, Leyte, Philippines.
WWII Japan > 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.
WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > 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., V Corps, First Army; KIA 16 Sep 1944 in the Schnee Eifel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany about 25 miles east of St. Vith, Belgium.
WWII Germany > The ETO > Rhineland, Fall 1944 > V Corps at the West Wall @ Battle of the Schnee Eifel

† 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, Dodge Co., 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.
WWII Japan > 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., IV Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 15 Apr 1945 near Castel d’Aiano, 25 miles south of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Military Note: 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 wounded the previous day.
WWII Germany > The MTO > Northern Italy > Breakthrough

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