Serial Number 37652368; Enlisted Camp Dodge December 26, 1942; Private
Harold "Dutch" Hoffmann attended the University of Iowa for one year before he was drafted into the U.S. Army. In 1942, he was assigned to the 3875th Quartermaster Supply Co. He served 27 months of overseas duty in Australia, New Guinea, and the southern Philippines working with air and sea refueling operations. On the 2nd day of the trip heading to New Guinea, a lone Japanese Zero attacked the ship Harold was on, missing the ship by a hundred yards, and was chased off by U.S. defense planes. After Harold's honorable discharge, he attended business school in Grand Island, Nebraska. He was a member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
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Manning Monitor article------ 1944
Hear From Son in Far Pacific We spent the first few nights in, pup tents at a different location from which we are now. At present we are settling down in the tents at a location which we will remain for some time. So far II have not found the island weather so bad. One has to be careful of malaria, however.
Hope you have received my Christmas package. Still have not received yours. Still have
to receive my first mail since landing in New Guinea. Know you are writing.
Love, Harold Manning Monitor article------ 1945
HAROLD HOFFMAN IS BACK FROM PACIFIC
The USS General Sturgis served as a troop carrier during the war, against Japan. |
Service THURDAY, JULY 22, 1999, 10:30 AM OHDE FUNERAL HOME MANNING, IOWA
Officiating PASTOR LARRY MCALPINE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH MANNING, IOWA
Music HELEN OHDE, ORGANIST
Interment MANNING CEMETERY MANNING, IOWA
Casketbearers: LYLE HOFFMANN, DEAN HOFFMANN, FRED LADROMA, BOB HAGEDORN, JEFF MOUNT, GAIL DREES
Military Honors AMERICAN LEGION POST 22, VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS POST 3517
THE FAMILY WISHES TO EXPRESS THEIR GRATITUDE FOR YOUR KINDNESS EVIDENCED IN THOUGHT, WORD, AND DEED, AND INVITES YOU TO JOIN THEM FOR LUNCH AND FELLOWSHIP AT THE VFW HALL FOLLOWING THE COMMITTAL SERVICE. DRIVERS IN A FUNERAL PROCESSION MUST TURN ON VEHICLE HEADLIGHTS.
Harold Peter, son of Henry and Lena Jones Hoffmann, was born July 14, 1921, in Manning, Iowa, He attended Manning schools, graduating with the class of 1940. Dutch attended the University of Iowa for a year before he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served in Australia, New Guinea and the southern Philippines during World War II. After his honorable discharge, he went to business school in Grand Island, Nebraska.
After completing his schooling, he worked for J.F. Anderson Lumber Company in Milford and Spencer. In 1960, he returned to Manning to Join his brother, Robert, in the Hoffmann Brothers Lumber Company. He retired in 1982.
Dutch was a member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. In his spare time, he enjoyed bowling and golf, becoming quite proficient at both. He was an active member of the Manning-Manilla Country Club for many years.
In the spring of 1999, when his health began to fail, butch became a resident of the Manning Plaza Nursing Home in Manning, where he died on July 18, 1999 at the age of 79 years and 3 months.
Dutch was preceded In death by his parents and three brothers: John Hoffmann, Waldo Hoffmann and Robert Hoffmann.
He is survived by a nephew Dean Hoffman and his wife, Livia, and their two children, Fred and Clara, of Manning; a niece Gail and her husband; Jeff Drees, and their sons, Nate and Jim, of Austin, Texas; cousins Lyle Hoffmann and his wife, Gloria of Des Moines and Burton Hoffmann of Hawthorne, New York; as well as many friends.