Report Pvt. Leland Letsche Missing
Was In Action At Anzio Beachhead
Mr. and Mrs. Letsche of Remsen received word last week from the War Department that their son, Pfc. Leland Letsche, is missing in action. The department assured the parents that further word, if any, would be relayed to them promptly. Leland is 26 years old.
The message stated that Leland was lost at the Anzio beachhead on April 28.
He was with Co. F., 133rd Infantry, and had been in the Army a little more than three years. Going overseas in February, 1942, he saw action in Africa and proceeded with his regiment to Sicily and Italy.
Leland is the only member of the family in the military service. Besides his parents, he has three brothers and two sisters.
Source: LeMars Semi-Weekly Sentinel, May 30, 1944
L. LETSCHE WAS KILLED
Pfc. Leland Letsche, son of Mr. and Mrs. Herman Letsche of Remsen, who previously had been reported missing in action on April 28, 1944, on the Anzio beachhead in Italy, has now been officially reported as killed on that day.
On May 21 his parents received a telegram from the War Department informing them that he was missing in action.
This forenoon, however, they received another telegram from the War Department, stating that he had been killed. No details or explanation for the long delay were given.
Leland Letsche entered the service April 18, 1941, and was sent to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, and there received his training in the infantry. January 1, 1943, he was sent to Fort Dix, N. J., where he remained until Feb. 1942, and was then sent to Ireland, where he remained until Sept. 1942, and was sent to England and thence to Africa in December, 1942.
There he was with a battalion of Iowa soldiers whose main task was to guard vital places associated with allied force headquarters, including General Eisenhower’s offices.
In March of this year, he was sent to Italy and there, at the Anzio beachhead, he went into battle.
Leland was 26 years old. He had three brothers and two sisters. One of the brothers lives in South Dakota.
Source: LeMars Globe-Post, August 17, 1944
***Further Research:
Leland Philip Letsche was born Mar. 5, 1918 to Herman and Rosine Letsche. He died Apr. 28, 1944 and is buried in Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy.
Source: ancestry.com, abmc.gov
