TWO FAMILIES RECEIVE NEWS OF CASUALTIES
First Lt. Bob Potter and Pfc. LeRoy Peterson Killed.
News that their sons had been killed in action in Europe was received here Monday by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Potter and Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Peterson.
First Lt. Bob Potter, a plot aboard a B-17 bomber, was killed in the European area Nov. 21, his parents have been notified by the war department which had first listed the flier as missing in action.
Landed Behind Lines
Lieutenant Potter was believed to have been in a bomber which had landed safely behind German lines somewhere in Holland. News received by his parents from the lieutenant’s wife in Hattiesburg, Miss., indicated that his bomber had been forced down about 20 miles behind the enemy lines.
A fighter pilot who had accompanies the crippled bomber reportedly had watched the ship land safely and had said he believed all of the crew were safe. His parents are still hoping that the death report is erroneous and that their son somehow has managed to work his way through the enemy lines or has been taken prisoner and is being held in a prison camp.
Lieutenant Potter, 26, had been in the air corps since 1942 and had been overseas since August. His wife and small daughter are living at Hattiesburg. He is also survived by one sister, Mrs. R. W. Bilter of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Source: Daily Freeman Journal, January 23, 1945
Robert Owen Potter, Lt. U.S. Army Air Corps - MIA/KIA
Robert Owen Potter was born Jan. 15, 1919 to Paul D. and Laura Belle Potter. He died Nov. 21, 1944 and is buried in Graceland Cemetery, Webster City, IA.
Lt. Potter was reported missing Nov. 21, 1944. He was lost on a mission to Osnabruck, Germany when struck with a direct hit by AAA flak, aboard a B-17G Flying Fortress #43-37792 with all 11 crew members.
Sources:
Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA
ancestry.com
World War II Memorial
