Ruby Smith Grave, Macedonia, IA

WWII Roster

 bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Roster > Roster Outliers, © 2023 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 18 Dec 2022. 
Big Pigeon's Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead Roster includes Pottawattamie County and the surrounding counties of Cass, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, & Shelby

Link to Big Pigeon's WWII Roster > Roster Outliers subpage:

• WWII Roster > Roster Outliers > Pott. Co. Discrepancies - for Pottawattamie County only, lists differences between Big Pigeon's Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead Roster and the sources listed below.

For convenience I'm collecting here the following sources that were of major use in developing this roster:

• Iowa Bonus Case Files for Beneficiaries, from ancestry.com. These are applications for payment of up to $500 to the beneficiary of Iowa WWII veterans who died before 1950.
• 1946 War Department list of WWII dead with service credited to Iowa, organized alphabetically within counties and cited below by 1946 War Dept. Entries for Pottawattamie area counties are in my Pottawattamie Area Army & AAF Dead.
• 1946 Navy Department list of WWII dead with Iowa next of kin, organized alphabetically statewide and cited below by 1946 Navy Dept. Entries for Pottawattamie area counties are in my Pottawattamie Area Navy, Marine Corps, & Coast Guard Dead.

For Pottawattamie County only, I also checked Big Pigeon's roster against the following two secondary sources:

• http://iagenweb.org/wwii/WWIIRollofHonor/PottawattamieRollofHonor.html, cited below by Roll of Honor, developed using WWII era articles from the Council Bluffs Nonpareil and the War and Navy Department sources cited above.
• http://genealogytrails.com/iowa/pottawattamie/veterans_plaza.htm, , cited below by 1946 War Dept. below by Veteran's Plaza, names inscribed on the Veteran's Plaza wall at Bayliss Park in Council Bluffs.

In the three parts below are names from various Pottawattamie area lists of WWII dead that merit special mention.

Part 1 - Major differences between the names used in Big Pigeon's Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead Roster and names found in official or local lists. Minor differences are noted within the individual's roster record heading.

• † Alter, Earl Carlton, SN O-157398, US Naval Aviation, Harrison Co.

          Appears in the Pott. County Roll of Honor as Carlton, Earl.

• † Bach, Paul Leonard, served as Bach Paul L & Beach Paul L, SN O-311373, US Army, Pott. Co.

          Son of Peter C. Bach (d. 1914) & stepson of Soren P. Knudsen.
          Both Bach Paul L & Beach Paul L. appear in the 1946 War Dept. list & the Pott. County Roll of Honor.

• † Duffy/Lein, Robert Eugene, served as Duffy Robert E & Lein Robert E, SN 17-197-256, US Army, Pott. Co.

          Son of Lawrence D. Lein & stepson of Edward P. Duffy.
          Both Lein Robert E & Duffy Robert E. appear in the 1946 War Dept. list, Pott. Co. Roll of Honor, Veterans Plaza.  
          Council Bluffs Memorial Park gravestone inscription: Robert Lein Duffy.

• ​† McLoud, James Fredrick, served as Long Fred O, SN 37-442-043, US Army, Pott. Co. & Washington Co., OK 

          Son of Lorenzo D. McLoud, sister lived in Walnut, Pott. Co.
          Served from Washington Co., Oklahoma using pseudonym Long, Fred O.
          Pott. Co. Roll of Honor: McLoud, James Fredrick; Pott. Co. Veteran's Plaza: Long, Fred O.
          Luxembourg American Cem. cross inscription: Fred O Long.

• Pedersen, Oscar Holst (served as Holst, Oscar), SN 37-126-291, US Army, Pott. Co.​ 

          Danish immigrant son of Jens Holst Pedersen. ​

Part 2 - Names from the 1946 War and Navy Department sources that are not in the WWII Dead Roster because I was unable to locate additional information. (Sources are italicized.)

• Hall, Peter - beneficiary living in Glenwood, Mills Co. - 1946 Navy Dept.
• Martin, James R., 37-189-251, PVT, DNB, Montgomery Co. - 1946 War Dept.

Part 3 - Names from the above sources that are in the WWII Dead Roster but with unknown Pottawattamie area connection. (Sources are italicized.)

• ​​​Anderson, Virgil Wendell, SN T-003902, US Army Air Force, Buena Vista & Pott. Cos. - 1946 War Dept., Roll of Honor, Veteran's Plaza
• Ash, Lawrence Edward, SN 37-691-207, US Army, Marshall & Montgomery Cos. - 1946 War Dept.
• Chuda, Jack Richard, SN 371595, US Marine Corps, Douglas Co., NE - Veteran's Plaza (b. Council Bluffs)​
• Crook, Lyle William, SN O-1286445, US Army, Cerro Gordo & Montgomery Cos. (first wife from Audubon Co.)
• Gerdts, Luther Charles, SN 37-647 -768, US Army, Clinton & Shelby Cos. - 1946 War Dept.
• Hansen, Matthias Peter, SN 39-839-172, US Army, Humboldt Co., CA - Roll of Honor, Veteran's Plaza
• Jensen, Carl Christian, SN 6-863-492, US Army, Audubon & Pott. Cos.​​ - 1946 War Dept., Roll of Honor, Veteran's Plaza
• McGrew, Orville Festus, SN 37-111-085 or 37-111-095, US Army, Chickasaw & Montgomery Cos. - 1946 War Dept.
• Rhoads, Guy Benjamin, SN 648-06-39, US Navy, Custer Co., NE - Roll of Honor, Veteran's Plaza
• Smith, Norman Franklin, SN 37-071-817, US Army, O'Brien & Shelby Cos. - 1946 War Dept.
• Sturd, Clarence Vincent, SNs 37-112-253  & 37-142-251, US Army, Harvey Co., KS, & Pott. Co. 1946 War Dept., Roll of Honor, Veteran's Plaza

Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Roster > Roster Outliers webpage:

• The webpage header photo, Ruby Smith Grave, Macedonia, Iowa, is courtesy of findagrave.com.