PFC Henry Lee Wallace was born 19 Dec 1924 in Carroll County, Georgia. He was the 3rd of 4 children of George Dewey and Florence Nettie (Norton) Wallace. An older sibling had died 2-days after birth just 1-year earlier. The family farmed near Hulett, Georgia but moved to LaGrange, Georgia to find work during the Great Depression. Dewey reported a 1939 income of $360 so the family no doubt also relied on the $560 Henry's older sister reported for the same period. Henry contributed as well, working 80 hours a week as a gas station attendant. Henry only had some grammar schooling and may have been illiterate as he could not sign his name. He was working for Carolina Cotton Mill in Carrollton, Georgia in 1942.
Henry was drafted in April 1943. He in processed and Fort MacPherson near Atlanta, Georgia. After completing his basic military training he was sent to the European theater. PFC Wallace was transferred from the replacement depot to G Company 116th Infantry on 13 Aug 1944 where he served as an ammunition handler. The regiment had just participated in the liberation of Vire, France and was now moving to Brittany to likewise liberate Brest, France from the Germans. PFC Wallace was killed in action in Brest on 1 Sep 1944.
PFC Wallace was repatriated in 1948 and re-interred in the Carrollton City Cemetery in Carrollton, Georgia.
His uncle, Mechanic James Samuel Wallace, had died in Paris, France on 17 Sep 1918 of blood poisoning from an injury sustained while serving with B Company 11th Machinegun Battalion.
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