A welder and flame cutter, Rose F. Puchalla was handling heavy equipment for years before Norman Rockwell made “Rosie the Riveter” a household name by putting her on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. Rose, a warm and friendly person,[i] took that grit and joined the Women’s Army Corp to serve her country and in doing so, she gave her life.

A household of excited children awaited new baby Rose F. Puchalla when she was born in Holdingford, Minnesota in 1918. Thomas Puchalla and Agnes Kurtz Puchalla had four children at home including Mary Puchalla Faust, born 1910, Anthony Herman Puchalla, 1911, Helena “Helen” Puchalla Ross, 1913, and Cora Victoria Puchalla Kokoris, 1914.[ii]

Her Minnesotan father, Thomas, was a first-generation American of German-Polish immigrant parents. Her bi-lingual mother, who arrived as a three-year-old toddler, was an immigrant from Posen, Poland.[iii] Agnes earned money as a dressmaker. Early in their marriage, Thomas picked up odd jobs to support them.[iv]

As she was nearing her second birthday, Rose and her family lived in a rental home in Stearns, Minnesota. Her siblings were ages 10, nine, seven and six. Thomas was supporting the family as a laborer described as “working out.”[v]

Sometime between 1920 and 1928, the Puchalla family lose Thomas. It’s clearly a tough time for the family causing them to split up for a while.

In 1928, Agnes, who is widowed, has taken the older children to Minneapolis. In 1928, they were living in a home on University.[vi] Then they move and in 1929, are living in a home on Sixth Avenue. With their mother are Mary, now 20, Anthony, 18 and Helen, 15. Anthony had an upholstery job and Mary was a cashier. Agnes’ sewing machine was always busy as she worked sewing clothing.[vii] The youngest two, Rose and Cora, are not with them.[viii]

Rose at 12 has seen her life have a big change. It’s the dawn of the Great Depression. She’s lost her father. Her mother has moved to the city. Rose had to move too. She is about 70 miles northeast in Pulaski, Minnesota and living with her aunt and uncle. Rose and her sister, Cora, are living with John and Mary Kurtz, in a home they own, and their children, Lorraine, 7, Dorothy, 6 and Bernice, 2. Her Uncle John, her mother’s younger brother, is employed as a merchant in a general store. Rose, Lorraine, and Dorothy attend school there. Cora has finished with school and little Bernice stays home with her mother.

Next, oldest sister, Mary, marries and is living in Pierz, Minnesota with her new husband, Andrew H. Faust. He is the manager of a grocery store. Pierz is about 100 miles from Minneapolis but just 17 miles from her sisters living with their Aunt and Uncle.[ix]

BEFORE THE WAR

Rose moves to Minneapolis in time to attend Edison High School but[x] left high school after two years. Before her enlistment, she was working as a skilled welder and flame cutter.[xi]

Despite being separated from their older sister, Mary, and her husband, Andrew, they remained close. In March of 1936, Rose spends a month with her sister Mary. The Saint Cloud newspaper picked up the tidbit with “Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Faust Jr. motored to Minneapolis on Friday. They were accompanied by Mrs. Faust’s sister, Miss Rose Puchalla. Miss Puchalla spent the past month here.”[xii]

In 1938, Rose, now 20, and her sister, Cora, 23, are rooming and working together in Minneapolis. They are both employed at Foley Manufacturing Company.[xiii] The two traveled together to see their sister Mary. Under “News from Our Neighbors” in the Saint Cloud Times, in August of 1938, it is reported that Rose and Cora visited the A. H. Faust home, Mary’s husband’s name.[xiv]

Their other sister, Helen, also lived in Minneapolis. She was married to Frank M. Ross, an automobile salesman.

Having stayed close all the years, it must have been a shock to the sisters when their oldest sister, Mary Puchalla Faust passed away in October of 1940 and was buried in Pierz. The newspaper reports they visited her and spent a weekend just the month before.[xv]

As war loomed, Rose continued to work at Foley Manufacturing Company until she joined the military. Foley, originally a manufacturer of sharpening equipment, made kitchen equipment beginning in 1934.[xvi] For the war, the company made canteens.[xvii] She worked there as a spot welder. Her brother, T/5 Anthony Puchalla, was serving with the army engineers in Germany.[xviii]

HER MILITARY STORY

Rose F. Puchalla, service number A-110481, served in the Women’s Army Corp, WACS. Rose enlisted on April 13, 1944 in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a private. She served in the 1202nd Army Air Force Base Unit, WACS.

According to HonorStates.org, the women who were in the 1202nd were older, with an average age of 28, than the usual recruit and were chosen for their “maturity and work experience.”

In November of 1944, Rose was one of 159 WACs in Accra, British West Africa to serve with the Air Transport Command. Their job was to deliver troops and supplies as well as transfer aircraft.[xix]

HER LAST DAY

PFC Rose F. Puchalla was with 17 other women of the Women’s Army Corp on a normally routine 776- mile[xx] flight from Accra, British West Africa to Robert’s Field[xxi], Liberia. The WACs were onboard as they were being transferred to a new assignment. There were scattered showers that morning but no other weather of note.[xxii]

Her plane, piloted by a crew of three[xxiii], a C-478 #44-76406, disappeared.[xxiv]

The plane was last reported over Takoradi, British West Africa, about 150 miles west of Accra, shortly after departure.[xxv]

Little is known about what transpired aboard the plane that day but several calls of “Mayday,” an emergency procedure used as a voice distress signal, were heard. The distress signal was loud and clear, lasting five minutes.[xxvi] A search was conducted by aircraft and surface craft over a wide area of the French Ivory Coast.[xxvii] The search consisted of seven PET’s and British, French, and Native forces, who were informed to search waters and coastline. No sign of the plane was found.

The plane is believed to have crashed into the sea near Takoradi, Ghana.[xxviii] The Chicago Tribune reported the “[xxix]18 WACs were the first ever reported lost overseas.”

She went missing on May 30, 1945 and was declared dead while missing in action off the coast of Ghana, Africa.[xxx] News of the missing planes made newspapers across America on June 6th, 1945. Her hometown papers carried the tale.

Along with news of Hitler’s body being found, The Minneapolis Star put PFC Rose Puchalla on the June 6th front page with “City WAC, 17 Others Lost Over Africa.” The Star Tribune of Minneapolis headlined with “City WAC Missing from Flight” the next day.

Her mother was notified via telegram. In a letter Agnes received, it said “May your daughter’s honorable service to her country be a source of sustaining comfort to you.”[xxxi]

Rose was 27.

**READ THE STORIES OF ALL 21 ON THIS FLIGHT **

Click here- https://www.fold3.com/page/653613892/flight-c-47b-44-76406-stories-of-21-missing-in-action/stories

COMMENDATIONS

Purple Heart

World War II Victory Medal

American Campaign Medal

Army Presidential Unit Citation

Army Good Conduct Medal

European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign[xxxii]

Distinguished Unit Citation[xxxiii]

MEMORIALS

On June 16, 1945, a memorial service for the missing women was held by the WACs’ leadership in Portman Square in London and over 660 WACs attended.[xxxiv]

PFC Rose F. Puchalla is remembered on the Tablets of the Missing, an American Battle Monument, North Africa American Cemetery in Carthage Tunisia.

As a part of the U.S. Government’s Veteran’s Legacy Program, a biography and lesson plans on the life of PFC Rose F. Puchalla were written by teacher Christina O’Conner. This was done as part of the Understanding Sacrifice Program, an educational program by the American Battle Monuments Commission and National Cemetery Administration in partnership with National History Day and the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.[xxxv]

NOTE

Some records spell the last name as Puhalla. The spelling of Puchalla was used in this story as it is the most prevalent usage.

ABOUT THIS STORY

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

[i] https://abmceducation.org/understandingsacrifice/soldier/rose-puchalla

[ii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4312210-00857?usePUB=true&_phsrc=Zvj534&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=48068618

[iii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4312210-00857?usePUB=true&_phsrc=Zvj534&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=48068618

[iv] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/31111_4330252-00882?usePUB=true&_phsrc=Zvj546&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=160191324

[v] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4312210-00857?usePUB=true&_phsrc=Zvj534&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=48068618

[vi]https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/15415710?usePUB=true&_phsrc=Zvj557&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=988033060

[vii] https://abmceducation.org/understandingsacrifice/soldier/rose-puchalla

[viii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/14438564?usePUB=true&_phsrc=Zvj555&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=900666067

[ix] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/family-tree/person/tree/7357909/person/25350904685/facts

[x] https://www.newspapers.com/image/182499913/?terms=%22rose%2Bpuchalla%22

[xi] https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=66639

[xii] https://www.newspapers.com/image/221985006/?terms=%22rose%2Bpuchalla%22

[xiii]https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/15791392?treeid=&personid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Zvj540&_phstart=successSource&pId=1018566451

[xiv] https://www.newspapers.com/image/224347225/?terms=%22rose%2Bpuchalla%22

[xv] https://www.newspapers.com/image/224368900/?terms=%22a.h.%2Bfaust%22

[xvi] http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=319

[xvii] http://discussions.mnhs.org/collections/2008/03/foley-world-war-ii-canteen-set/

[xviii] https://www.newspapers.com/image/186801524/?terms=%22pfc%2Brose%2Bpuchalla%22

[xix] https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=334268

[xx]https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=22956270&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjM3MDE5ODM5MSwiaWF0IjoxNjAwNjUzOTMxLCJleHAiOjE2MDA3NDAzMzF9.GGROPxU0pGgcIxOv2cUjLCtQalRy9746RfogyVqiR44

[xxi] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56250251/leona-marie_elizabeth-seyfert

[xxii] https://www.abmceducation.org/understandingsacrifice/soldier/rose-puchalla

[xxiii] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56250251/leona-marie_elizabeth-seyfert

[xxiv] https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=334268

[xxv]https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=22956270&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjM3MDE5ODM5MSwiaWF0IjoxNjAwNjUzOTMxLCJleHAiOjE2MDA3NDAzMzF9.GGROPxU0pGgcIxOv2cUjLCtQalRy9746RfogyVqiR44

[xxvi] https://www.abmceducation.org/understandingsacrifice/soldier/rose-puchalla

[xxvii] New York Times, June 7, 1945 “18 WACS Missing on African Flight”

[xxviii] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56250251/leona-marie_elizabeth-seyfert

[xxix]https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=22956270&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjM3MDE5ODM5MSwiaWF0IjoxNjAwNjUzOTMxLCJleHAiOjE2MDA3NDAzMzF9.GGROPxU0pGgcIxOv2cUjLCtQalRy9746RfogyVqiR44

[xxx] https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=334268

[xxxi] https://abmceducation.org/understandingsacrifice/soldier/rose-puchalla

[xxxii] https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=66639

[xxxiii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/7357909/person/25350904688/media/3fdbb3c1-240a-4f16-99cb-a6a2c8ada958?_phsrc=Zvj562&_phstart=successSource

[xxxiv] https://www.facebook.com/notes/mia-recoveries-locating-lost-wwii-servicemen/the-tragic-loss-of-c-47-44-76406-the-wacs-worst-disaster/10150778536912463/

[xxxv] https://blogs.va.gov/VAntage/46781/veterans-legacy-program-pfc-rose-f-puchalla-a-womans-sacrifice-during-world-war-ii/

1945 WAC Memorial Service for WACS Missing in Action.jfif

WAC Pin.jpg

In Memory of Rose F Puchalla from Ancestry.jpg

Rose F Puchalla from findagrave.jpg

ROse F Puchalla from honorstates.jpg

Rose F Puchalla welded at Foley Manufacturing.jpg

Rose Puchalla - The_Minneapolis_Star_Wed__Jun_6__1945_.jpg

Rose Puchalla - Star_Tribune_Thu__Jun_7__1945_.jpg