Going through Facebook the other day and found an interesting post about the death of Grover Loika.   There are large and small errors on the post.  The first is having Pvt all in uppercase PVT.  In WWII Pvt was written just that way.  Not a biggie but still only the start of the errors.  Next problem his saying HQ Company as Headquarters is one word so the abbreviation should be Hq not HQ. 

The next issue is using the word Regiment.  If you are part of a Division the word Regiment is assumed so it should be Hq Co 3rd Bn 506^th Prcht Inf 101^st Abn Div.  The next issue dovetails neatly with this grammatical error as this post has HQ Company.  It should be written either Hq Co or Headquarters Company not a combination of abbreviation and full form in the same sentence.

These are not really a large issue compared to what follows.  The family was given incorrect information concerning the death of their cousin Private Grover C. Loika who was killed Normandy June 6, 1944.  In the post they were told by the writer that their cousin was wounded and taken to the 101^st Abn Div Aid Station at Château de la Colombière where he died a few hours later.

That was not true as even in the records the writer posted it was clear that he was KIA (Killed in Action) on his Grave Form #1 Burial Report.  The writer stated that the 6 digit Coordinate 388:925 was the Aid Station.  That Coordinate was actually used for the Temporary Cemetery Hiesville adjacent to the Aid Station the 101^st was using.  The second page of the link shows another soldier with the same listing on the SGO except that he died of drowning.  Even though he was at the Aid Station it only shows that because the Cemetery is right next door.

Pvt Loika’s SGO (Surgeon General’s Report) is available and it shows that he was listed as KIA and was shot in the Chest region.  None of that information was given to his cousin is seems.  The writer never mentioned where Graves Registration Form #1 came from.  He called it “service documents” which is odd as this came from the IDPF (Individual Deceased Personnel Files). 

The SGO shows the type of wound that killed him in this case he was shot in the chest by a bullet.  Since the Aid Station was next to the Temporary Cemetery that’s why they are listed on the SGO.  If he had been wounded before dying it would stated Died of Wounds instead of Killed in Action. 

This will explain what the documents in relation to Grover Loika when he joined the 506^th Prcht Inf October 5, 1942 first coming into Service Company.  Next it shows Private Loika leaving Service Company going into Hq Co 3^rd Bn February 5, 1943.

Then you will see the Weekly Burial Report when he was buried in Hiesville Temporary Cemetery.  There is a color photo of the Heisville Cemetery during June 1944.  Also included is a picture of some of the 101^st soldiers being buried at the Hiesville Cemetery.  The person in the picture was the Chaplain Captain Sampson from the 501^st doing the benediction before burial. 
 

The men were disinterred the first week of July 1944 and moved to the Blosville Temporary Cemetery.  Here you will see the second Weekly Burial Report along with a picture of a French/American Service at Blosville.  Next is a photo of a soldier visiting a friend October 29, 1944.  If you look to the right you will see the letter J.  That is the Plot where Pvt Loika was buried.  He was in the second row but on the far side if you look at Plot Layout.         

Last is Pvt Loika General Order for the CIB (Combat Infantryman Badge) July 1944. 

Brian N. Siddall

August 15, 2023