PVT Robert Asher Pennell

PVT Robert Asher Pennell was born 26 Aug 1925 in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. He was the 4th of the 5 children born to Walter Ray and Barbara A. (McNaughton) Pennell. His father worked as a moulder in a stove factory reporting a 1939 income of $900 and paying a monthly rent of $18 on their residence at 60 West Main Street. Robert attended Mount Joy High School and graduated in June 1943.

Robert was drafted in November 1943. He took his training at Camp Craft, South Carolina and Fort Meade, Maryland before being sent to Europe in June 1944. Reportedly trained as a medic, he is listed on the morning reports as a rifleman. PVT Pennell was transferred from the replacement depot to I Company 116th Infantry on 20 Jul 1944. PVT Pennell was killed in action on 7 Aug 1944 near Vire, France.

PVT Pennell was repatriated in 1943 and re-interred in the Mount Joy Cemetery in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania.

His father served as a SGT in D Company 156th Machine Gun Battalion 42nd Division during WWI.