ROSZELL-LYLE

DIED  IN  JAPANESE  POW  CAMP

Lyle Thomas Roszell was born October 8, 1918, at Lake Park, Iowa. Following schooling in Shellsburg, Iowa, he joined the Navy in May 1940 at Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  After completing recruit training at Great Lakes he was assigned to the cruiser USS Houston.  On March 1, 1942, the ship was sunk during the Battle of Sunda Strait with the loss of 693 crewmembers.  Fortunately, Roszell was one of the 368 Navy and Marine Corps personnel who managed to swim ashore where they were all captured by the Japanese.  Upon becoming a prisoner, Roszell was held at a POW camp in Tarsoa, Thailand, where he reportedly died of dysentery on August 29, 1943.  His body was originally interred in Thailand and later reburied in Hawaii before finally being returned to Vinton, Iowa, where he was placed in Evergreen Cemetery and his grave marker carries the inscription:  S1  -  US NAVY  - WORLD WAR II.  He was survived by his parents and eight siblings.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)