Earl Leland Arms, 85, a retired civil engineer, formerly of Springfield, Missouri, passed away on Sunday, September 9, 2007. He was born on January 11, 1922, in Breckenridge, Missouri, to Irwin B. Arms and Della Guffey Arms, the sixth of nine children.The family moved to Bruner, Missouri, when Earl was 10. He attended Bruner grade school and graduated from Sparta High School. He served in the U.S. Army from 1942-1945. He was a member of the First Special Services Unit, nicknamed the Devil's Brigade. He served in North Africa, Italy, France and Norway during World War II. He married Bessie Rogers on July 3, 1943, in Louisville, Ky. After the war ended, Earl and Bessie attended the University of Missouri, where they graduated in 1949. While attending the University of Missouri, two daughters, Earline and Adella, were born to them. After graduation, Earl took a job with the Missouri Highway Department as a civil engineer, and they moved to Springfield. Two sons were born to the family in Springfield, Louis in 1950, and Leland in 1956. Earl's job also took him to St. Louis and Macon, Mo., before retiring back to Springfield in 1982. He was a licensed professional engineer, and a member of the Missouri Society of Professional Engineers. Earl was a longtime member of Springfield First Nazarene Church, where he served on numerous boards and as a Sunday school teacher. Their home was always open to the youth and children of the church. Earl was preceded in death, in 2003, by Bessie, his wife of 60 years; and in 1990, by his daughter, Adella Boller, as well as his seven brothers and one sister. He leaves behind a daughter and two sons, and their spouses, Earline and Michael Dikeman of Manhattan, Kan., Louis and Carol Arms of Muncie, Ind., and Leland and Beverly Arms of Harvard, Ill. His grandchildren are Jennifer and Darin Zebel, Mark Dikeman, Becca Hendricks, Stephanie and BJ Murray, Hannah and Travis Self, Rachel and Joey Shald and Megan Arms. He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. The Arms family will receive friends today, September 13, 2007, from 6 to 7 p.m. at Walnut Lawn Funeral Home, Springfield, Missouri. Services will be held Friday, September 14, 2007, at 10 a.m. at Springfield First Nazarene Church, located at 3245 S. Kansas Ave, Springfield, Mo. Burial will follow in Sparta Cemetery, Sparta, Mo., with full military honors. An online memorial may be signed at www.walnutlawnfuneralhome.com. Memorial donations may be made in his honor to the Springfield First Nazarene Church building fund.
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In July 2013, the Congressional Gold Medal was awarded, collectively, to the First Special Service Force (FSSF) in recognition of its superior service during World War II. On February 3, 2015 surviving FSSF Veterans were in Washington DC to accept this momentous recognition on behalf of their fellow Forcemen who could not be there.