Sgt. H. Moore Listed Missing
Sgt. W. Lacox Killed In Action
MOORE IN ITALY
LACOX IN WEST
Relatives Are Notified By War Dept.
Adams county’s contribution to the casualty list in World War II was enlarged by two this week when messaged were received, bringing the information that S. Sgt. Howard R. Moore, son of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Moore of Prescott, was missing in action and when Mrs. Maple F. Lacox of Nodaway was informed by the War Department that her son, S. Sgt. Wayne A. Lacox, was killed in action April 3 in the New Guinea area. This brings the Adams county casualty list to eleven dead or killed in action and four reported missing in action. Eleven names are on the prisoner of war list.
S/Sgt. Lacox was an aerial engineer and gunner and entered the armed forces September 10, 1942 at Camp Dodge. Before going to foreign duty, he received training at St. Petersburg, Florida, and Greenville, South Carolina. His first assignment in combat duty was in the south Pacific in August, 1943, and he served in that area until the time of his death, April 3.
Free Press readers will probably recall that the Free Press printed a very spirited letter from S/Sgt. Lacox in our issue of March 30. He was counting strong on having his hours in “missions” filled and be home on furlough for his birthday this year. He was born on a farm near Nodaway Sept. 27, 1921.
Relatives
Sgt. Lacox leaves to mourn his mother, Mrs. Maple F. Lacox of Nodaway; four brothers, Wm. E. and Glea M. Lacox of Nodaway, Chester B. Lacox of Mission, Kanss, and Tech. fourth grade Paul C. Lacox, serving with the medical battalion in Italy. He is also suvived by four sisters, Mrs. Pearl Hess of Hepburn; Mrs. Elsie Stroud of Nodaway; Mrs. Jessie Akers of Gravity and Mrs. Edna Goodvin at home whose husband is with the air corps somewhere in India. He also leaves a number of nieces, nephews and a host of other relatives and many friends.
In the death of Sgt. Lacox, the Nodaway community has now contributed the lives of four boys who have paid the last full measure of sacrifice for their country. They are Sgt. Albert Rider and Sgt. Gordon Watts, who were killed in the African campaign, and Phm. Mate John Henry Thurman of the Navy who was killed at Pearl Harbor and Sgt. Lacox, killed April 3.
Source: Adams County Free Press, Corning, Iowa, Thursday, April 20, 1944, Page 1
S/Sgt Wayne A. Lacox
Son of Mrs. Maple Lacox of Nodaway, who was reported killed in action in the New Guinea area April 3. Lacox was a gunner with a bomber crew.
Source: Adams County Free Press, April 27, 1944 (photo included)
Memorial Held Sunday
For Sgt. Wayne Lacox
A large group of relatives and friends gathered at the Methodist Church in Nodaway last Sunday afternoon to pay a final tribute to Sgt. Wayne A. Lacox, 22, son of Mrs. Maple Lacox of Nodaway, who was killed in action in the New Guinea area, April 3, 1944. Sgt. Lacox was a gunner with a bomber crew.
The program of the afternoon was arranged and in charge of Rev. H. B. Kishpaugh, pastor of the church, and he and Mrs. Kishpauh furnished the music for the memorial. Members of the Nodaway American Legion acted as ushers. The speaker of the afternoon was George Gibson of West Des Moines, a member of the Odd Fellow Lode and a personal acquaintance of Sgt. Lacox. Sgt. Lacox was employed in West Des Moines before entering the service.
Sgt. Lacox entered the service at Camp Dodge September 10, 1942, and before going to foreign duty, he received training at St. Petersburg, Florida; Gulf Port Field, Mississippi; Ft. Meyers, Florida; and Greenville, South Carolina. His first assignment to combat duty was in the South Pacific in August, 1943. He served in that area until the time of his death on April 3rd.
Shortly after his death, Sgt. Lacox was posthumously awarded the Air Medal by the commander of the Allied forces in the New Guinea area. At the time of his death, Sgt. Lacox was the fourth boy from the Nodaway vicinity who gave the last full measure of sacrifice for their country. The others were Sgt. Albert Rider, Pvt. Gordon Watts and Phm. Mate John H. Thurman.
Source: Adams County Free Press, Corning, Iowa, Thursday, August 03, 1944, Page 5
Wayne Albert Lacox was born Sept. 27. 1921 to Albert Eugene and Maple Forrest Lacox. He died Apr. 3, 1944 and is buried in Methodist Grove Cemetery, Nodaway, IA.
Sgt. Lacox served in World War II with the U.S. Army Air Corps 403rd Bomber Squadron, 43rd Bomber Group and was KIA in New Guinea.
Source: ancestry.com
