Roll of Honor
Incident
Trooper Stanley Gerling and Trooper Pilot Lance Dietsch were killed in an airplane crash while searching for an elderly man who had wandered away from a nursing home near U.S. Highway 6 west of Atlantic, Iowa. They were about to call off the search when the troopers located him in a soybean field. They began to circle the area when the plane made a sudden turn and crashed vertically into the ground. Trooper Gerling had served with the Iowa State Patrol for one year. He was survived by his wife and two children
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-IA-BE771C91- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
You barely got started.
Trooper Gerling gave the Iowa State Patrol 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the people of Iowa. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Trooper Gerling.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Trooper Stanley E. Gerling is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In IA, 71 of 226 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.4% of this state's fallen. That is 0.4 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Iowa State Patrol, 9 of 12 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 75% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Stanley E. Gerling's cause is highlighted.
How Stanley E. Gerling Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Stanley E. Gerling is highlighted in Jun.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
11 officers from Iowa State Patrol are honored on badge.nw.
