PFC James Burell Williams

courtesy of Jan Breshears Thomas

PFC James Burell Williams was born 4 Jul 1921 in Urbana, Missouri. He was the 2nd of the 5 children born to James Melvin and Henrietta (Miller) Williams. His father was a switchboard operator for the local telephone company before becoming a manager but only reported a 1939 income of $500. James had graduated from high school and was doing odd jobs earning $122 in 1939. He was able to find steady employment as a truck driver and in 1942 he married Mary Virginia Palmer.

James was drafted in November 1942, shortly after his marriage. He may still have been in his basic military training when his daughter was born in April 1943. PVT Williams was sent to England and once there he was assigned to C Company 116th Infantry and began training for the amphibious landing that was planned in the liberation of occupied France. Serving as a rifleman, he was with C Company as it landed on D-Day and fought with the unit until wounded near Saint-Lo on 11 Jul 1944. PFC Williams was evacuated to hospital but returned to the unit from the replacement depot on 28 Aug 1944. C Company was now engaged in the fighting at Brest, France and PFC Williams was killed in action there on 1 Sep 1944.

PFC Williams was repatriated in 1948 and re-interred in the Mission Ridge Cemetery in Urbana, Missouri.

2 of James' brothers served in the army in WW2. Vernon Lee Williams 1942-1946 and Samuel Buel Williams in the Philippines.

James is survived by several great-grandchildren.