The War Department also announced the names of 11 Iowa soldiers who are prisoners of war interned by Italy. They are:
Pvt. Melvin Brue, Lake Mills;
Corp. Merle Cripe, Rockwell City;
Pvt. Alvin C. Crouse, Storm Lake;
Staff Sergeant Charles R. Gillespie, Red Oak;
Pvt. Eldon D. Patterson, Rockwell City;
Pvt. (f.c.) Merlene H. Rold, Avoca;
Corp. Earl F. Schenck, Villisca;
Pvt. Michael M. Stern, Sioux City;
Sergt. John W. Wagner, Council Bluffs;
Staff Sergeant Sam L. Willoughby, Cumberland;
Pvt. (f.c.) Francis X. Zembsch, Cherokee.
Source: The Des Moines Register, Tuesday, July 20, 1943
Eldon Darwin Patterson was born Mar. 16, 1916 to French Catell and Bertha Alice Swails Patterson. He died Aug. 5, 1974 and is buried in Wichita Park Cemetery and Mausoleum, Wichita, KS.
Pvt. Patterson served with the U.S. Army 168th Infantry in World War II.
Source: ancestry.com
