NAVY ISSUES FIRST “CASUALTY” LISTS.
The Navy’s first official casualty list, issued on the 5th, contained the names of Arthur Anthony Bersch and David Alonzo Leedy.
This was the first of a series of “official reports” which came to next of kin during the month.
A Navy list on the 11th reported John Dale Grunder, apprentice seaman, and son of John Albert Grunder of Wilton was among 35 Iowans who were wounded during the period from Dec. 17, 1941 to April 15, 1942.
Messages of DEATH, Word of Valiant Soldiers, Sailors “Missing in Action,” Brought Sadness to Families Here
“The Navy deeply regrets……”
Messages addressed to a number of Muscatine county parents or next of kin of men in the service of their country, carrying this sad phrase or one similar to it from army or marine corps officials, have brought sorrow to a number of homes in this area in the slightly more than 12 months since Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese struck at Pearl Harbor and Manila.
Muscatine county me gave their lives for their country in that initial attack, which plunged the nation into a globe girdling war.
In Thick of Fight.
Muscatine county men have figured in most of the history making engagements which have been recorded since that date. Some have escaped, unharmed, but in other cases, engagements with the enemy have been followed by official notices of men either killed in action, missing in action, or taken prisoner and gold stars have replaced those of blue on service flags in the community.
Early this month, the death in action of John Dale Grunder, of Wilton, seaman first class, was reported to his parents. Grunder, who had previously been reported injured in action at Pearl Harbor, had seen service on the U. S. cruiser San Francisco, which although seriously crippled in an engagement which cost the lives of the ship’s senior officers, subsequently put in at a west coast naval base for repairs.
Source: Muscatine Journal News-Tribune, December 30, 1942 (photo included)
Iowa Honor Roll
These Iowans, like those pictured here on previous Sundays, have given their lives for their country. They were fatally wounded in combat or died in prison camps. The fourth line under each name designates the war area in which the man last served.
Source: The Des Moines Register, Sunday, March 5, 1944 (33 photos included)
John Dale Grunder AKA Dale Junior Shelley was born Jan. 22, 1922 and adopted by John A. and Selma Agnes Fischer Grunder. He was KIA Nov. 13, 1942, buried at sea, and is memorialized at the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City, Philippines.
Petty Officer Grunder served in World War II with the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) during the attack on Pearl Harbor where he was WIA. He then served aboard the USS San Francisco (CA-38) where he was KIA during the battle of Guadalcanal (SavoBay). He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Sources: ancestry.com; The Forgotten Iowa Historical Society facebook page
