PFC Samuel Austin Whipkey

PFC Samuel Austin Whipkey was born 9 Nov 1918 in Estherville, Iowa. He was the 3rd of 7 children of Henry Norman and Lillian Edith (Whipkey) Whipkey. His father farmed and soon moved the family back to Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Samuel's father worked in a lumber mill near Jefferson, Pennsylvania and then returned to farming when he rented a farm near Somerset, Pennsylvania. The family attended the Indian Head Church of God. Samuel ended his education with the the 8th grade and also worked in farming and then in a local lumber mill. In 1939 he only reported working 20 weeks and earning just $100. 

Samuel was drafted in February 1942. He was sent to Fort George Meade, Maryland for his initial training. In April 1942 he married Freda Mildred Daniels. PVT Whipkey was sent to England in October 1942, he may have already been assigned to I Company 116th Infantry. Once in England he began training with his unit for the amphibious assault that was to be a part of the effort to liberate Nazi occupied France. PFC Whipkey took part in that effort and was wounded by artillery fire on 6 Jun 1944, although treated he died of his wound(s) that same day. 

PFC Whipkey was repatriated in 1947 and re-interred in Normalville Cemetery in Normalville, Pennsylvania.

Samuel's brothers, Vernon Elwood Whipkey and Eugene Smith Whipkey, also served in the U.S. Army during WW2.