WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - Sgt. Lloyd George Amaden

SGT. LLOYD GEORGE AMADEN

Born in Milford Township on March 9, 1922, Lloyd George Amaden was named after his father, Lloyd Augustus Amaden, Sr. (1879-1922). Lloyd would grow up without his father.

In the 1930 census, his mother, Mary May Hootman Amaden, was head of the household with eight children, ranging from age 26 to 8 (Lloyd). At that time, they were living on East Smith Street in Hicksville. 

 Lloyd attended Hicksville High School where he graduated in 1940. He played football and basketball three years, and baseball and softball, for one year each.

After graduation, Lloyd joined the National Guard in October, 1940, which had been federalized for the war. He was sent to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and then to Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania.

He was in the Army, 148th Infantry, 37th Division, Company A, First Battalion. His first assignment would be the Bourgainville invasion in the Solomon Islands.

His destination would first be Fiji in June, 1942, Guadacanal in April, 1943, and Rendova, New Georgia in July 1943.

It was the New Georgia Campaign, (Operation Toenail) when the U.S. challenged the Japanese, in the Battle of Munda. United States troops landed on the west coast of Rendova Island with the intent of capturing the Japanese airfield there. "The inexperienced U.S. troops, hungry and tired, began to lose their fire, discipline and forward momentum. There were also a high number of severe cases of combat stress reaction (now PTSD) among U.S. troops at this time." (Historian, Samuel E. Morison). It was a chaotic massacre with exhausted soldiers, and it was soon apparent that fresh reinforcements were needed. 

Rendova sat across a watery division from the Japanese airfield. These islands were all important stepping stones for our troops to reach Japan, itself. Sgt. Amaden was one of the reinforcements sent to Munda airfield, but he might not have made it off the ship. He was shot while disembarking on July 21, 1943.

 In the Crescent-News, August 25, 1943, on page 1:

"Hicksville, August 25 - Hicksville's first native son casualty in World War II was recorded Tuesday when the war department announced the death of Sgt. Lloyd George Amaden, 21, son of Mrs. Mae Amaden, of Hicksville.

Sergeant Amaden was killed in action July 21 while landing at Munda on New Georgia Island. He had been in service three years, entering the Army shortly after graduation from Hicksville high school in 1940. He went overseas in May 1942, and served in the Fiji Islands and Guadacanal.

He leaves his mother, five brothers, Mark, Edwin, John, Walter, and Lee, all of Hicksville; and four sisters, Mrs. Audrey McCullough and Mrs. Valona Myers, both of HIcksville, Mrs. Pauline Nills, Fort Wayne, and Mrs. Mary Vance, New Haven, Indiana.

Public memorial services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Church of Christ with the pastor, Rev. William A. Cooper, officiating."

The Crescent-News, August 30, 1943, page 10:

"Public memorial services were held at 2 p.m. at the Church of Christ for Sgt. Lloyd Amaden, Hicksville soldier killed at Munda in the south Pacific area July 21 while the troops were landing at that port. For the memorial service Rev. Walter H. Reitz of the Methodist church offered the prayer and Commander Wellington H. Campbell of the American Legion stated the purpose of the Memorial. Rev. William J. Cooper, pastor of the church, based his sermon on Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. In closing, Rev Mr. Cooper sang, 'Some Time We Will Understand.'"

Sgt. Lloyd Amaden received the Purple Heart, posthumously awarded, and the Asian-Pacific Ribbon with 3 stars.

"MRS. AMADEN GIVEN SON'S PURPLE HEART.

Hicksville, Sept. 30 - Mrs. Mae Amaden has received from the war department a certificate award of the Purple Heart for her son, Sgt. Lloyd G. Amaden, for military merit and wounds received in action resulting in his death, July 21, 1943."

The Crescent-News, September 30, 1943, p. 7

                                              Buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Hicksville, Ohio

Dianne Kline, Researcher