By Krista Finstad Hanson

For the Times

Just prior to U.S. entry into World War II, the 34th Infantry Regiment was awaiting shipment to Hawaii. On Dec. 21, 1941, just two weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, they were assigned to defend the island. Two years later, on June 12, 1943, they were assigned to the 24th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army. In September 1943, they were sent to train in Australia.

They first saw action and participated in Operation Reckless in the South Pacific in April of 1944. By June, they were assigned to the 41st Infantry Division and participated in attacks on Biak Island. In February 1945, they joined the 3rd Battalion to fight on Corregidor and later Leyte Island. 

The 34th Infantry Regiment remained fighting in very difficult terrain and circumstances in the South Pacific, including on the island of Mindanao, until September 1945, weeks after the official end of World War II on August 15, 1945.

PFC Dean K. Peacock served with Company L of the 34th Infantry Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army during World War II.

Dean Kenford Peacock was born August 13, 1922 in Benton, Lafayette County, to Chester and Genevieve (Newman) Peacock.

On the 1930 U.S. Census, the Peacock family lived in Benton. The household included father Chester, mother Genevieve, and children Woodrow, Marion, Dean, and Phyllis. Chester’s sister Betty (Bessie) also lived in the home and worked as a housekeeper. Father Chester was a merchant in the retail drug industry.

On the 1940 U.S. Census, the Peacock family lived in the same house with the addition of their grandson Ard. Father Chester was the proprietor of a drug store, Woodrow worked as a cobbing jack in a zinc mine, Marion worked as a typist with the NYA, and Chester’s sister Bessie was a housekeeper in a private home. 

On June 30, 1942, Dean Kenford Peacock registered for the WWII Draft. He lived in Benton and his employer was the Savanna Ordnance Depot in Savanna, Illinois. 

On Jan. 6, 1943, Dean K. Peacock enlisted in Milwaukee for service in WWII. He had four years of high school and was single without dependents. He was employed in “semiskilled warehousing, storekeeping, handling, loading, unloading, and related occupations.”

On the October 1944 Hospital Admission Card for Dean K. Peacock, he is listed as a battle casualty which occurred in the line of duty. The causative agent of his death was artillery shell fragments.

From the Dec. 7, 1944 The Capital Times notice “Benton Soldier Killed on Leyte,” the news was given that “Mr. and Mrs. C. S. Peacock, Bento, have been informed that their son, Pfc. Dean K. Peacock, 22, was killed in action on Leyte island on Oct. 30.

“He was a member of Co. L, 34th Infantry, and this was his third campaign in the islands.”

The Dec. 10, 1944 Wisconsin State Journal article titled “Timmins, Benton, Killed in Action,” had further information that “Pfc. Peacock had been overseas with the U. S. army infantry since last January” and that he was a “1940 graduate of Benton high school.”

The April 25, 1949 Wisconsin State Journal notice for “Peacock Services” noted that “The body of Dean K. Peacock…will arrive in Benton Tuesday afternoon” and services will be held at the Primitive Methodist church.

PFC Peacock was repatriated with reburial at the Primitive Methodist church’s cemetery in Benton. He was listed with National WWII Memorial Registry Gold Star Honor Roll as being from Lafayette County, Wisconsin. He was killed in action and received the Purple Heart, awarded posthumously.

Thank you, Private First Class Dean Kenford Peacock, for your service to and sacrifice for this country. We honor you and remember you.