Army Badge
  • Name: Emmett Truman Loucks
  • Location of Birth: Motley, Minnesota
  • Date of Birth: October 31, 1913
  • Date of Death: February 4, 1945
  • Parents: Albert Loucks & Anna (Clemens) Loucks
  • High School and Class:
  • College:
  • Highest Rank: S SGT (Staff Sergeant)
  • Branch: Army
  • Other Branch:
  • Date Sworn In: October 10, 1941
  • Place Sworn In:
  • Date of Discharge: February 4, 1945
  • Place of Discharge:
  • Military Awards:
    Purple Heart

  • Military Highlights:
    WW II Draft Registration Cards – 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947
    State: Minnesota
    Name: Emmett Truman Loucks
    Race: White
    Age: 26
    Birth Date: October 31, 1913
    Birth Place: Motley, Minnesota, USA
    Residence Place: Togo, Itasca, Minnesota, USA
    Registration Date: October 16, 1940
    Employer: Self
    Weight: 170
    Height: 5-11
    Complexion: Light
    Eye Color: Gray
    Hair Color: Brown
    Next of Kin: Lynn Hemphill, sister, Togo, Itasca, Minnesota

    Staff Sergeant Loucks was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion which was involved in the Battle of the Bulge. The Germans captured 49 men of L Company on December 30, 1944 and the men were sent to prison camps. The Germans took their uniforms and winter coats and used them to infiltrate American lines. According to the German Red Cross, Staff Sergeant Loucks died on February 4, 1945 from wounds while a prisoner of war in Germany.


    Information from Little Minnesota in World War II - Minnesota's Littlest Towns, written by Jill A. Johnson and Deane L. Johnson:

    "Emmett Truman Loucks
    Squaw Lake (Itasca County)
    Third Army, 35th Infantry Division, "Santa Fe Division," 134th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion, L Company, Staff Sergeant
    October 31, 1913 - February 4, 1945 - Battle of the Bulge, Belgium

    Almost a year after he died, the Itasca Iron News reported the death of Staff Sergeant Emmett T. Loucks: Word was received Thursday by Mrs. Emmett T. Loucks of Grand Rapids that her husband, Staff Sergeant Loucks had died in Germany on February 4. He previously had been reported missing in action in Belgium since December 30. Apparently the young man had died a prisoner of war as the message to Mrs. Loucks came through the International Red Cross. He had been overseas since November, serving with Patton's Third Army. Three years ago he married Miss Judith Forseen of Squaw Lake, and it was shortly after this marriage that he went into the service. Mrs. Loucks is a member of the Cohasset school faculty.

    On December 28, 1944, Staff Sergeant Loucks and the 3rd Battalion were ordered to attack through the woods and seize Lutrebois, a small town five kilometers south of Bastogne, with L Company in the lead followed by K and I Companies for support. As L Company swept into town, enemy groups of infantry began to filter through Allied lines. When the enemy struck back in a pre-dawn attack on December 30, with the Luftwaffe and tanks giving support to their ground forces, the fate was sealed for L Company. Holed up in a house in Lutrebois, surrounded, and without ammunition, the men continued to defend themselves in an increasingly impossible situation. Finally, unable to stop the tanks, L Company was forced to surrender. A German medic, a prisoner of the Allies, left the house and told a tank man parked by the house that a company of American hid inside. The 49 men of L Company, including Staff Sergeant Emmett Loucks, were lined up in the woods, marched off, and sent to prison camps. The Germans took their uniforms and winter coats and used them to infiltrate American lines.

    Letters from Staff Sergeant Loucks' wife and sister indicate that on January 9, 1945, they were notified that Staff Sergeant Loucks was missing in action. A second message on March 9, 1945, this time from the German Red Cross, stated that he died on February 4, 1945, from wounds while a prisoner of war in Germany.

    Back home in Itasca County, on December 1, 1946, Itasca County dedicated a parcel of tax-forfeited land in honor of two fallen war heroes: Staff Sergeant Emmett Loucks and 2nd Lieutenant Franklin Danyluk. One of four memorial forests in Itasca County, the Loucks/Danyluk Memorial Forest lands are managed for timber and wildlife and open to the public for hunting and other recreational purposes.

    Sixty-six years later, when the county considered trading the land to a private party, James A. Loucks and Colin M. Loucks, nephews of Staff Sergeant Loucks, wrote a letter on June 2, 2012 to the Grand Rapids Herald-Review. "Emmett Truman Loucks was captured in the Battle of the Bulge and was subsequently murdered by the SS Nazis because he refused to give information to the Nazis on U.S. strength and movement. His murder galvanized the rest of the POWs not to give information to the SS. If we trade this memorial forest for the hunting pleasure of a few we certainly do not deserve our freedom and would be a disgrace not only to him, but to all veterans living and dead. Not only was he our father's brother but his best friend. While our father fought the Japanese in the Pacific his brother gave his life in the European Theater. This loss changed all his siblings forever. Our father could barely speak his name without tears the rest of his life, but he understood why Emmett gave his life willingly as a volunteer, so all other people could enjoy the freedom he loved so dearly that he bravely gave his last full measure of devotion and life willingly and without second thoughts. We were deprived of ever getting to know our uncle due to his murder in the defense of freedom. The Nazis murdered Emmett and other US soldiers so they could take their uniforms and identification to infiltrate the Allied forces so they could cause havoc and spy on the strength and positions of the United States military units that were thrust against them."

    The state has since ruled against trading the land to a private developer, and the Loucks/Danyluk Memorial Forest remains open for public recreation.

    Staff Sergeant Emmett T. Loucks, husband of Judith (Forseen) Loucks, and son of Albert and Annie (Clemens) Loucks, was reburied at Luxembourg American Cemetery, Belgium, in 1946. Survivors included his wife, his father and seven siblings. He entered the service on October 10, 1941."



  • Wars Involved:
    World War II

  • MIA / POW:
    Newspaper article: March 14, 1945 - "Word was received Thursday by Mrs. Emmett T. Loucks of Grand Rapids that her husband S. Sgt. Loucks had died in Germany on February 4. He previously had been reported missing in action in Belgium since December 30. Apparently the young man had died a prisoner of war as the message to Mrs. Loucks came through the International Red Cross. He had been overseas since November, serving with Patton's Third Army.
    Three years ago he married Miss Judith Forseen of Squaw Lake, and it was shortly after his marriage that he went into the service. Mrs. Loucks is a member of the Cohasset School faculty."

  • Civilian Life:
    Emmett Loucks is buried overseas in Luxembourg American Cemetery, Luxembourg, Belgium (Block H, Row 3, Grave 64).

    In 1946 Itasca County established the Loucks-Danyluk Memorial Forest of more than 67,000 acres in the northeastern part of the county in memory of Staff Sergeant Emmett T. Loucks and 2nd Lieutenant Franklin Danyluk, both of whom died during World War II.

  • Tribal Affiliation(s):

Privacy Policy Cookie Policy