Holm, Merl W.
Army Private 1st class

Merl W. Holm, age 22, from Calhoun County Lake City, Iowa .

Parents: Andrew Holm

Service era: World War II
Schools: High school at Lake City

Date of death: Thursday, November 26, 1942
Death details: Merl was accounted for April 15, 2022. In November 1942, Holm was assigned to the Company K, 3rd Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, deployed in present day Papua New Guinea. As part of an attempt to neutralize the Japanese threat to Port Moresby, the Allied center of communications in the area, Holm’s unit attempted to flank the enemy defensive lines stretched across the Sanananda Track in northern Papua. Holm was reported as killed in action on Nov. 26. Holm was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Carroll Daily Times Herald (1943)