PFC Peter James White was born in Detroit, Michigan on 19 Jan 1921. He was the 2nd child of the 5 born to John and Mary Anna (Slavinski) White. Both parents were natives of Poland and the name, White, is probably an Anglicization of John's surname. Like many in the "Motor City", John worked in an auto factory and in 1930 the family was living at 5160 Casper Avenue in what seems to still be a neighborhood of neatly kept homes. But the family was split apart when John and Mary divorced in 1931. Mary remarried and step-father, Mike Shaffer, also worked in an auto factory. The family lived at 5429 Tarnow Street, about 3 blocks from their previous residence. Peter had been able to graduate from high school and in 1940 had just begun work at an auto factory. Peter then went to work for the Chicago Raw Hide Company just a couple of blocks north of where he lived. Both of those locations are now vacant lots.
Peter was drafted in January 1943 and after completing his basic military training was sent to the European theater probably in May 1944. PFC White was transferred from the replacement depot to K Company 116th Infantry on 19 Jun 1944 to serve as a rifleman. He would have fought with the unit through the bocage and was killed in action at Saint-Lo, France on 16 Jul 1944.
PFC White was repatriated in 1949 and re-interred in the Roseland Park Cemetery in Berkley, Michigan.
Brother, Paul Edward White, served as a T5 in the U.S. Army during the war.
No comments:
Post a Comment