More than 1,600 men from the Akron-Canton area were killed in World War II during the 12 months from Memorial Day 1944 to the same holiday in 1945.

The toll had risen threefold from the previous 12 months, when 500-some members of the American military from seven Northeast Ohio counties, including Stark and Summit, were recognized for their sacrifice by the Akron Beacon Journal in an "Honor Roll" published on Memorial Day in 1944. Those whose names were listed in the newspaper on the holiday those two consecutive years — and in lists printed other Memorial Days during World War II — had given their lives for their country.

Tim Carroll cited these sobering statistics in his new book, "World War II Akron," published by The History Press of Arcadia Publishing.

"There was a dramatic increase in casualties as you can see and that is why I wrote the chapter ’The Deadliest Year: June 1944-May 1945,’” said Carroll, a historian with a particular interest in World War II. "Those 12 straight months brought the highest casualties of the war and Northeast Ohio was flooded with killed-in-action telegrams leaving many area families devastated. On Memorial Day 1944, 508 people from Summit, Portage, Stark, Wayne, Holmes, Medina, and Ashland counties were listed as killed; it increased to 1,613 people killed for those seven counties by Memorial Day 1945."

Deadliest days

In his book, Carroll lists all of the dead, in the order in which they gave up their lives for the cause of freedom, a task he said he accomplished with the assistance of online military sites.

The author also reports the deadliest two dates for Akron members of the military — Feb. 19, 1945, on which 12 Akron servicemen were killed, and Nov. 25, 1944, when 11 Rubber City men lost their lives. Ten Akron-area men were killed on June 6, 1944, which was D-Day, and on Dec. 18, 1944. The bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, also cost the lives of 10 Summit County men.

"World War II Akron" is more than a tally of the cost of the conflict. It also examines the lives of many who were lost and speaks of other notables who served in the war and survived.

Three men from the Akron area were fathers who were killed in action, the author noted. Each was mourned by a widow left alone to care for a family of five children.

Most noted father

Perhaps the most well-known father in Northeast Ohio to be called into service was Massillon's Paul Brown.

Carroll recalled Brown's service in his Akron book because the coach's high school teams played games at Akron's Rubber Bowl, as did his Cleveland Browns once he began coaching in the NFL.

"He was one of the lucky fathers," the author said. "Since he was Paul Brown, they had him coaching football (during the war)."

Brown's story is told in a chapter of his book that Carroll calls "Athletes during World War II."

Recognizable names

A host of other Akron-area notables inhabit the pages of Carroll's book, according to the volume's publisher.

"When World War II engulfed the nation, the men and women of Akron dutifully played their part in the epic struggle," according to publicity material from the publisher. "Keyes Beech ducked grenades as marines raised the American flag at Iwo Jima. Newspaper magnate John S. Knight watched the Japanese surrender on the USS Missouri just five months after his son was killed in Germany. On the homefront, Goodyear manufactured blimps used to hunt down Nazi submarines, and noted Beacon Journal cartoonist Web Brown pledged his talent and his pen to boosting morale at home and abroad. Replete with more than 100 images, including many of Brown’s wartime drawings, this thrilling account by local author Tim Carroll recalls all that Akron gave for freedom."

Carroll, 36, is a native of Akron and a graduate of University of Akron with a degree in history and a master's in education. The author said he began writing about World War II after reading his grandfather's war letters.

"My grandfather left probably 400 World War II letters and I went through them to put them in chronological order," recalled Carroll. "While doing that I realized that he was drafted March 1, 1941, before Pearl Harbor. He was was supposed to serve (overseas) for a year, but after Pearl Harbor he didn't come home until December of 1944. He served 33 straight months overseas. He was still in the Army, serving in the states, until 1945."

Story branches out

Learning his grandfather's story led to researching the gaps left by the war in the lives of others, such as Richard Swenson, son of the Swensons Drive-In founder. The younger Swenson served during World War II and is pictured in the book wearing King Charlemagne's crown after he found it in a German bunker. Swenson, who rose to the rank of brigadier general, also served in the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Carroll also relates the stories of Lester Cowan, a 1922 Akron South High School graduate, who made the movie "The Story of G.I. Joe" about the war correspondent Ernie Pyle. And, he tells a tale about Helen Waterhouse, whom the author credits with being "the first female reporter in the country to write about aviation."

And, Carroll recalls "Shorty" Fulton, who founded Akron Fulton Airport. Fulton managed airports for the Army during World War II, facilities built along the Nile in Egypt. Later Fulton went on bombing missions over Germany and was shot down in 1945, then briefly was a prisoner of war.

The author illustrates his book with dozens of photographs, including images of the Goodyear blimps, and more than 30 of Beacon Journal artist Web Brown's cartoons.

"His cartoons were really good drawings and he had a great sense of humor," Carroll said. "He was good at getting his message across in his artwork. It was like he was fighting the war with his cartoons."