178 men and women from the Arenzville community served during World War II – the largest mobilisation this community had ever seen.
Some came from the same families that had sent men to the Civil War and World War I. The Burrus family sent seven sons. Four Charlesworths served. Four Zulaufs. Five members of the Peck family. Among those who served were also women – Mary Jane Looker, Letha Lovekamp, Mable Jean Peck, Rosemere Peck, Ruth Stamper, and others .
One member of this community, Louis Kloker, made the ultimate sacrifice and did not return.
Floyd E. Musch was inducted into the Army on April 13, 1945, and trained at Camp Robinson, Arkansas. He departed San Francisco on October 6, 1945, arriving in Tokyo Bay on October 19, 1945, as part of the historic first direct voyage to occupied Japan. He served at the 4th Replacement Depot at Zama, outside Tokyo.
Leland W. Nicol was drafted in May 1943, training with the Airborne Engineers at Westover Field, Massachusetts, before joining the 1896th Aviation Battalion in Richmond, Virginia. He served in multiple Pacific Theater campaigns including New Guinea (Lae and Nadzab), Biak in the Dutch East Indies, and departed for the invasion of Luzon, Philippines on Christmas Day 1944.
Bud Nobis served with the Headquarters Company, 707th Tank Battalion, departing the U.S. on February 12, 1944, for England. He fought across France, through the Siegfried Line, and in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest before being caught in the Battle of the Bulge in Luxembourg. Near Wiltz, Luxembourg, he was forced to abandon his tank and was taken prisoner on December 19, 1944.
Corporal Melvin W. Nobis served with the Third Armored Division, First Army, in Germany during World War II. He was among the soldiers who spearheaded the drive through northern France and Belgium, participating in the historic breach of the Siegfried Line and the capture of the first German town, Rogen — all accomplished in just 18 days from the Seine River.