PVT Joseph Minor Blankenship was born 5 Jan 1922 in Roanoke, Virginia to John William and Julia Catherine (Patsel) Blankenship. His father was a carpenter and later the family farmed. His father died in 1938. In 1940 Joseph was working as a cement mixer on a building project and appears to have been supporting his mother. In 1939 he reported an income of $150.
Drafted in November 1942, he is shown as being single with dependents. After his training he was sent overseas and assigned to G Company 116th Infantry prior to the D-Day amphibious assault on the beaches of Normandy. He survived that and then was killed in action on 11 Jun 1944.
His mother, Julia, died on 17 Jun 1944, likely never having been told of his death.
We are certain that PVT Blankenship was repatriated as were so many other soldiers after the war. However, we do not know where he was buried.
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