SSG Earl Lee Teele

courtesy of Paul Hays

SSG Earl Lee Teele was born 17 Nov 1916 in Loudoun, Virginia. He was the youngest of the 8 children born to Joseph William and May Ann (Williams) Teele. His father worked as a farm laborer. Earl's mother, Maggie as she was called, died of influenza in 1918. He and the younger siblings were cared for by his older sisters, Ella and Mazie as well as his father. His father never remarried. Earl was working for Mrs. Howard White of Upperville, Virginia in 1940, probably on her farm.

Earl was drafted in May 1941. Sent to nearby Fort George Meade, Maryland for training, we believe that he married Mary Francis Grimes in late 1941 or early 1942. Assigned to G Company 116th Infantry, he then trained with the regiment in the Carolina maneuvers and at Camp Blanding, Florida before departing for England aboard the Queen Mary in September 1942. Once in England he trained with the unit for the amphibious landing that was planned as part of the invasion of occupied France. He then took part in that attack on 6 Jun 1944. He fought with G Company through the bocage to Saint-Lo and to Vire. Earl was promoted to SSG on 25 Jul 1944. SSG Teele was shot on 7 Aug 1944. The machine gun bullet penetrated through the pelvis impacting his lower spine. Although evacuated to hospital and undergoing surgery, he died of his wound on 8 Aug 1944. 

Initially interred at La Chene Guerin cemetery in Percy, France, SSG Teele was repatriated in 1949 and re-interred in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.