Pfc. Rodney A. Madson, son of Mr. & Mrs. Wm. E. Madson of Hawarden, was killed in an accident on March 19 at Oro Bay, New Guinea, where he was serving in a field artillery battalion.
Dr. and Mrs. Madson were notified of their son's death in a message received last Saturday morning from the war department. No details were given but the telegram stated that a letter would follow.
This was the message: "The Secretary of War asks that I assure you of his deep sympathy in the loss of your son, Private First Class Rodney A. Madson. Report received states that he died nineteenth March in Oro Bay, New Guinea, as a result of an accident. Letter follows. Ulio, the Adjutant General."
Pfc. Rodney A. Madson was born on August 9, 1917 at Hawarden. He was graduated from the Hawarden High School in 1936. He then attended the University of South Dakota, majoring in geology, and received his B.A. degree from that institution in 1940. During his four years at the university, he played in the R.O.T.C. military band.
He was inducted into the army on February 25, 1941, and was assigned to the 147th Field Artillery, stationed at Fort Ord, Calif. He was on a convoy enroute to the Phillippines when the Japs struck at Pearl Harbor. The transport on which he sailed got safely to the Fiji Islands, where it joined a British convoy and landed in Australia on December 22 with the first American troops to be stationed on foreign soil in this war.
In July, 1943, Pfc. Madson was sent to New Guinea. In several of his recent letters to his parents, he wrote of being in action, but stated that the details would have to wait until some day when he could tell his experiences to his home folks. At the time of his death, he was serving in the 260th Field Artillery Battalion.
Dr. and Mrs. Madson have two other sons in the service, T/Sgt. Willard R. Madson is serving somewhere in the Southwest Pacific, Pfc. Daniel R. Madson is with an engineering unit in Italy. The youngest son, Donald, is at home.
Source: Hawarden Independent, March 30, 1944
