Army Private Arvo A. Luoma

Images and notes by Bob Leathers
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Let Us Remember
Army Private Arvo A. Luoma
Killed in Action World War II

Arvo A. Luoma Serial number 37143722. PRIVATE FIRST CLASS 32nd INFANTRY U.S. ARMY, from Hanna, Carbon, Wyoming was killed in action on April 21, 1945 while fighting at Luzon in the Phillippines. He was buried in the Hanna Wyoming Cemetery in Plot 365. Age 29. 
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The following quote about the 32nd Infanty Division Arvo Luoma was attached to during World War II was taken from The National Guard Educational Foundation Website:
"The division was called to active duty for World War II service on 15 October  1940. It was reorganized and redesignated as the 32nd Infantry Division on 1  February 1942. It arrived in
Australia in April 1942. Before the end of the year General Douglas MacArthur committed the 32nd to stopping the Japanese advance in Papua, New Guinea. Elements of it were airlifted over the Owen Stanley Mountains  to engage the enemy at Buna while Allied forces attacked from the front.  Fighting in wet jungle terrain the men of the Red Arrow finally gained the upper  hand. They were aided in this battle by troops airlifted in from the Guard's 4th  Infantry
Division. With two infantry divisions being moved by air, this was the  first major airmobile operation in the Pacific war. The 32nd suffered crippling losses and returned to Australia to rebuild its regiments. Returning to New Guinea in January 1944, the 32nd reduced Japanese strong points before its next mission, fighting in the Philippines. It landed on Leyte Island in 
November 1944 and spent two months clearing pockets of Japanese defender
bringing the campaign to a close just in time for  the 32nd to join in the combat raging on Luzon. It was still fighting in  the Cagayan Valley when the war ended in August 1945."

The 32nd Infantry was fighting the Japanese on Luzon in the Phillippines on April 21, 1945 when Arvo Luoma was killed in action.