Remembering Capt. Robert M. Losey, Killed by the Nazis in Norway Eighty-Five Years Ago, the First American Military Casualty in WWII

Abstract: This article tells the story of the first American service member to be killed in World War II, Capt. Robert M. Losey, who was killed not in France or Germany, as one might expect, but in central Norway. A West Point graduate, Losey came under fire by Nazi bombers on 21 April 1940 in Dombås, Norway, while helping to evacuate American diplomatic personnel and their families from Norway to Sweden following the Nazi invasion of the country on 9 April. He died instantly. This story illustrates how the United States and Norway, as allies, actively worked together against the German military and maintained diplomatic relations throughout the war.