courtesy of Des Philippet |
That was undoubtedly one of the reasons that Robert Junior enlisted in the local national guard unit. He was with that unit when it was federalized/activated in February 1941. He would have then trained with the unit at Fort Meade, Maryland, in the Carolinas and at Camp Blanding, Florida. He would have then sailed with the unit aboard the Queen Mary in September 1942. Assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company 1st Battalion 116th Infantry he was later a section leader. PVT Patsel took part in the D-Day landings and was promoted to SSG on 20 Jun 1944. On 30 Jun 1944 he was wounded by a bullet in his right arm but remained on duty. On 9 Sep 1944 he was reported as a non-battle casualty (probably resulting from an accidental injury) and evacuated to hospital. He returned to the unit on 21 Sep 1944. SSG Patsel was killed in action on 21 Nov 1944 in the vicinity of Koslar, Germany.
SSG Patsel is buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery.
Robert's oldest sibling, brother S1C Arlie McKinley Patsel was killed in action on 13 Nov 1942 aboard the USS Juneau in the battle for Guadalcanal. Youngest brother SGT David Alexander Patsel served in the U.S. Marine Corps for many years.
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