{"id":1615,"date":"2026-10-31T17:38:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T17:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=1615"},"modified":"2026-10-31T17:38:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T17:38:18","slug":"full-archive-875-20261031","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=1615","title":{"rendered":"John W. \u201cJohnny\u201d Roling \u2014 full archive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is the preserved full version from 31 October 2026. Open the shorter topic overview \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

A big brother to Bob<\/h2>\n\n

Bob Roling remembered Johnny as a big brother. A handwritten family chart identifies Johnny as a son of Ben Roling and Katherine Korte, and records that he died in World War II. In the family account passed down from Bob, Johnny stayed with Joe and Ida after his mother died, while his father, Ben, traveled for work. His older brother Frankie stayed with Aunt Flora. Johnny later returned to his father after Ben remarried. The family also recalled later visits and Sunday dinners.<\/p>\n\n

The family memories, census households and Army records strongly point to Private John W. Roling. In 1930, five-year-old Johnnie was listed with his grandfather, John F. Roling, in Salisbury. Ten years later, John W., 15, was again recorded as his grandson. These two snapshots do not tell us when all of Johnny's stays with Joe and Ida occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Memorial
Pvt. John W. (Johnny) Roling, pictured on his memorial card. Family collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Entering Army service<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Johnny was inducted into the Army at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on March 2, 1943. He spent the next week in the Enlisted Reserve Corps and began active duty on March 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before entering the Army, Johnny worked as a lathe operator and had completed four years of high school. His service record names Ben F. Roling as his father, Aunt Flora as his emergency contact, and his brother Frank as serving in the U.S. Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source notes:<\/strong> Family-held additional Army personnel packet for John W. Roling: PDF page 33, \u201cOfficial Statement of the Military Service and Death,\u201d July 29, 1946; and PDF page 48, service-record sheet. The statement records induction and transfer to the Enlisted Reserve Corps on March 2, followed by active duty on March 9. The family entries name Flora Roling as his aunt and do not name his mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malaria in Italy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Johnny was hospitalized with malaria in Italy in August 1944. He was admitted to the 37th General Hospital in Naples on August 5, and a blood smear confirmed the diagnosis the next day. His hospital card records his return to duty on August 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source notes:<\/strong> Family-held additional Army personnel packet, JohnRolingfile2.pdf<\/em>, PDF pages 11\u201313: field medical tag, August 4, 1944, and 37th General Hospital card, August 5\u201323, 1944. The hospital card records a positive smear for Plasmodium vivax<\/em> on August 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wartime news from home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Two Moberly newspaper reports bring Johnny\u2019s wartime story back to his family in Salisbury. A January 9, 1945 notice identified him as Ben Roling\u2019s son and J. F. Roling\u2019s grandson. Reporting that he had been wounded in France on December 14, it also said he had been in the Italian campaign when Rome was taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 20, the paper reported that Ben had received word of his son\u2019s death in Germany on April 3. It remembered Johnny as a St. Joseph\u2019s School graduate who had been raised by his grandfather and Aunt Flora. It named his brother Frank, serving in the Navy; sisters Mrs. John Wagner and Mrs. Cleve Iman; and half sisters Virginia and Mary Lou Roling. Read the newspaper citations and source notes below<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

A wound in December<\/h2>\n\n

Johnny's name appears in Company C's December 1944 casualty list. It records him as lightly wounded in action on December 14 and gives his hometown as Salisbury, Missouri. The entry supplies a firm date for an earlier wound, although it does not say where he was hit or describe the injury.<\/p>\n\n

A family account suggests that Johnny may have received more than one Purple Heart. That remains a question for the award records: a wound listing and a later death listing cannot, by themselves, tell us how many medals he received.<\/p>\n\n

Company C in Germany<\/h2>\n\n

The 753rd Tank Battalion's own April 1945 casualty report lists John W. Roling of Salisbury in Company C. It records that he was killed in action on April 3. That was 35 days before V-E Day, May 8, when the war in Europe ended.<\/p>\n\n

The company's reports help describe the fighting around that date. By late March, its tanks had advanced through the Bergzabern area and moved on toward Wieblingen. On April 1, Company C was attached to the 253rd Infantry Regiment, 63rd Infantry Division. The following day its tanks supported infantry crossing the Neckar River.<\/p>\n\n

A field medical tag preserved with Johnny\u2019s additional Army papers now adds a direct account. It records that his tank was hit by an \u201cAP gun\u201d near Bittelbronn, Germany, at 7 p.m. on April 3, 1945, and that he was killed in action. The tag identifies him with Company C, 753rd Tank Battalion. A separate entry records the tagging at Mosbach the following afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n