Source: website bigpigeon.us, webpage WW II Dead.
© 2020 by Robert A. “Bob” Christiansen, updated 24 Sep 2020.
The Pottawattamie County, Iowa Area WW II Dead
You can view the WW II Dead roster on-line from three perspectives:
Additional WW II Dead webpages:
My WW II Dead reports:
Sources for the WW II Dead webpage:
© 2020 by Robert A. “Bob” Christiansen, updated 24 Sep 2020.
The Pottawattamie County, Iowa Area WW II Dead
- Most in my roster of over 400 WW II dead lived in or had familial connections with Pottawattamie County, Iowa.
- My roster also includes brief personal and military information.
- This roster is integrated with my bigpigeon.us webareas WW II - Japan and WW II - Germany; see World Wars > My WW II Project for more information.
You can view the WW II Dead roster on-line from three perspectives:
- The Roster - with complete personal and military data, broken up alphabetically into eleven parts.
- View by home location - Council Bluffs, rural Pott. Co., other Iowa counties, other states.
- View by death location - War with Japan, War with Germany, stateside, after leaving service.
Additional WW II Dead webpages:
- Using the Roster - understanding and using the WW II Dead roster.
- About the Roster - background information for the WW II Dead roster.
- Useful Links - links to web resources used to build the WW II Dead roster.
- WW II Dead - Photos - in its early stages, currently has only 17 images.
- WW II Dead - Outliers - veterans' names I have found that fit into special categories.
My WW II Dead reports:
- Maritime Losses Japan Report - major naval losses in the War with Japan.
- Maritime Losses Germany Report - major naval losses in the War with Germany.
Sources for the WW II Dead webpage:
- The webpage header image shows the Pottawattamie County Veteran's Plaza in Council Bluffs on the east side of Bayliss Park. See more at http://genealogytrails.com/iowa/pottawattamie/veterans_plaza.htm.
Epigraph from Veterans Plaza Memorial, Bayliss Park, Council Bluffs, Iowa
In honor of the veterans in my WW II Dead roster to whom we owe so much, I have included the following eloquent and moving epigraph, The Glory of their Spirit by the late Richard W. Peterson of Council Bluffs.
When destiny demanded and country called,
they in answer left our rolling hills
and great river valley, and learned the arts of war. Then, on and beneath restless waves of the deep,
in endless skies and across vast oceans to island shores, on broad plains and barren hillsides, in dark forests,
on snow-covered mountains and in the rubble of smashed villages
and cities they faced and fought, with valor and dedication,
those who challenged our ideals and freedom and,
in the very vortex of combat, were then greeted and embraced by Death. The soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen were not born
to die in the youth of their lives – yet they did.
They were not born to die death of violence – yet they did.
By cruel and brutal circumstances of war, they gave their lives
that we might live our lives and years in liberty and peace.
Never should we forget their ultimate sacrifice.
We now in their memory carve their names in stone,
and enshrine them in our hearts;
we now cast in eternal bronze, figures who in sorrow and
in the long, long thoughts of youth
reflect on the last measure of devotion given by those we now honor, and we join their mute and motionless yet eloquent presence
in their silent meditation,
Thinking not only of the passing of the departed patriots,
But remembering the glory of their spirit.
© Richard W. Peterson, reprinted with permission of Kip (Peterson) Sherbondy.
In honor of the veterans in my WW II Dead roster to whom we owe so much, I have included the following eloquent and moving epigraph, The Glory of their Spirit by the late Richard W. Peterson of Council Bluffs.
When destiny demanded and country called,
they in answer left our rolling hills
and great river valley, and learned the arts of war. Then, on and beneath restless waves of the deep,
in endless skies and across vast oceans to island shores, on broad plains and barren hillsides, in dark forests,
on snow-covered mountains and in the rubble of smashed villages
and cities they faced and fought, with valor and dedication,
those who challenged our ideals and freedom and,
in the very vortex of combat, were then greeted and embraced by Death. The soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen were not born
to die in the youth of their lives – yet they did.
They were not born to die death of violence – yet they did.
By cruel and brutal circumstances of war, they gave their lives
that we might live our lives and years in liberty and peace.
Never should we forget their ultimate sacrifice.
We now in their memory carve their names in stone,
and enshrine them in our hearts;
we now cast in eternal bronze, figures who in sorrow and
in the long, long thoughts of youth
reflect on the last measure of devotion given by those we now honor, and we join their mute and motionless yet eloquent presence
in their silent meditation,
Thinking not only of the passing of the departed patriots,
But remembering the glory of their spirit.
© Richard W. Peterson, reprinted with permission of Kip (Peterson) Sherbondy.