2LT William Gallagher Sampson was born in Alliance, Ohio on 18 May 1915. He was the youngest of Anderson Jaynes and Elizabeth Dunkin (Gallagher) Sampson. His father worked as an accountant/bookkeeper. By 1940 William was working as a store clerk for Schwabacher and Company, a hardware firm, earning a reported 1939 income of $1020, twice what his father earned in the same year.
William was drafted in 1941 and after his basic military service was identified as a candidate for officer training to which he was sent. After that he was sent to Europe and on 5 Jun 1944 was assigned to Cannon Company 116th Infantry as one of the additional officers sent to the regiment prior to the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944. He landed with Cannon Company and fought with the unit until 17 Jun 1944 when he was killed in action. 2LT Sampson was awarded the Silver Star for and Bronze Star for actions occurring on the date of his death.
2LT Sampson rests forever in the Normandy American Cemetery.
Grandfather, GEN Archibald Johnson Sampson, served as a SGT in C Company 43rd Ohio Infantry (USA) and CPT in the Civil War, as Attorney General of Colorado, Envoy to Mexico and Ecuador. Brother, Archibald Johnson Sampson (named for their grandfather) was drafted as a private in WW2 and left the U.S. Army as a LTC as well as a doctor.
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