PFC Marshall Earl Smithpeters

PFC Marshall Earl Smithpeters was born 27 Aug 1921 in Mazon, Illinois. He was the 5th of 6 children born to Wilford Harrison and Sadie L. (Tiemann) Smithpeters. His youngest sister, Viola, died in 1923 only 6 days after her birth. Marshall's father supported the family by working at an oil refinery but died suddenly in November 1930. His mother re-married and Marshall lived with his mother and step-father, Charles Savage while he completed high school. He then went to work for George Koch and Sons of Evansville, Indiana and became a trained welder.

Marshall was drafted in October 1942. After completing his military training he was sent to England and assigned to H Company 116th Infantry. He trained for and participated in the amphibious assault on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. He survived that and continued fighting with his unit until wounded on 17 Jun 1944. Evacuated to hospital in England where he died of wound(s) on 21 Jun 1944. He was then interred in the Brookwood Cemetery in the county of Surrey, England.

PFC Smithpeters was repatriated in 1949 and re-interred in the Plattville Cemetery in Plattville, Illinois.

His brother, George William Smithpeters, served in the U.S. Army during the war. Great-grandfather, Harvey J. Bolerjack, served as a PVT in H Company 13th Illinois Cavalry (USA).