CPL Ernest Monroe Hardy

CPL Ernest Monroe Hardy, b. 19 Mar 1894 - d. 22 Mar 1965. The youngest son of James Henry and Virginia Addie (Jones) of Danville, Virginia, Corporal Hardy served during WWI with C Company 116th Infantry in France and was wounded. At one time he was a resident of the Roseburg Branch of the US homes for disabled soldiers in Hampton, Virginia. In 1921 he married Rose Lee Boswell Dixon. For many years after the war he worked as a plumber in Danville. His father was a veteran of the Civil War and had served in E Company 38th Virginia Infantry. Ernest and Rose are buried in Green Hill Cemetery in Danville, Virginia.

PFC Warren Russell Davies

PFC Warren Russell Davies, b. 31 May 1912 - d. 17 Mar 1945. Son of Arthur James and Flora Jane (Miller) Davies of Muskegon, Michigan. Known to the family as Russell, his father died in 1932 and his mother remarried. Russell had 10 siblings and half-siblings of whom at least 4 had died before his father passed. PFC Davies was assigned to C Company 116th Infantry when he was killed. PFC Davies is buried in Lakeside Cemetery in Muskegon, Michigan.

TSGT William C. Black

TSGT William C. Black is one of those men about whom we know very little. We believe he was born 16 Sep 1922 in Butler County, Ohio and was drafted on 11 Feb 1941 while residing in Jackson County, Ohio. We think he is the same William C. Black who married Miss Bernadine Current in Texas City, Texas on 5 Mar 1942 and that the couple had a son, William Roy Black in August 1943. The boy would died in February 1944. 

Black was assigned from the replacement depot to I Company 116th Infantry on 29 Oct 1944 as a SSG, William was promoted to TSGT on 3 Dec 1944 at which time he became a platoon sergeant. He was wounded by artillery fire sometime in December 1944 but quickly returned to his unit. Wounded again on 1 Mar 1945, TSGT Black was evacuated to hospital in Cambridge, England where he died of his wound(s) on 11 Mar 1945. He was awarded the Bronze Star but we do not know for what action this award was made.

Initially interred at Cambridge, we do not know if he was repatriated and reinterred in Ohio. 

PFC Herman Eugene Davis

PFC Herman Eugene Davis was born 12 May 1918 in Crowell, Texas to Robert Earl and Mattie Leona (Neely) Davis.  His father farmed along with his family of 8.

We don't know when Herman entered service but it appears that he might have been assigned to I Company 116th Infantry prior to the D-Day landing. He was promoted to PFC on 1 Oct 1944.  It seems that he avoided injury until 24 Nov 1944 when he was sent to the hospital (non-battle injury).  On 18 Dec 1944 he returned to the unit via the replacement depot.  Seriously wounded on 27 Feb 1945 he was again evacuated to the hospital.  He died of his wounds on 3 Mar 1945.

In 1949 his body was returned to his family and he was buried in the Crowell Cemetery in Crowell, Texas. 

SSG Karl Henry Metz

SSG Karl Henry Metz, b. 3 Oct 1916 - d. 3 Mar 1945. Son of Frederick and Julia Ann (Snyder) Metz, Karl was born in Coshocton, Ohio. This is his high school photo from the 1930 Coshocton High School annual. He worked as a laborer and salesman in Philadelphia and St. Louis. It was in St. Louis where he met his wife, Helen D Gerhard a nurse from Hazleton, Pennsylvania. They were married before he went overseas where he served with both A and B Companies, 116th Infantry before being killed. SSG Metz is buried in the Ardennes American Cemetery. Helen never remarried and worked for many years in nursing in the Hazleton area before retiring and moving to Harrisburg where she died, aged 94, in 2011.

PVT Edward John Konefal

courtesy of Des Philippet

PVT Edward John Konefal was born in 17 Jul 1922 in Passaic, New Jersey the only son of Andrew Joseph and Mary (Rozmus) Konefal.  Both parents were natives of Poland. His father was a laborer in a silk mill. 

Edward was working in textile manufacture when he was drafted in June 1943.  After his basic training he was sent to England and assigned to G Company 116th Infantry.  He was likely assigned to the unit not very long before the D-Day amphibious assault that took place on 6 Jun 1944.  He wasn't wounded that day but was wounded on 17 Jun 1944 and evacuated to hospital.  Edward did not return to the unit until he was transferred from the replacement depot on 16 Feb 1945!  PVT Konefal was killed in action on 1 Mar 1945.

PVT Konefal is buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery.

PFC Ignatz Anton Kobza

PFC Ignatz Anton Kobza was born 29 Apr 1913 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin the eighth of nine children born to Ignatius Anthony and Konstancja Augusta (Malecka) Kobza.  His father was a native of Topola, Poland and operated a saloon at 577 Maple Street in Milwaukee. His father died in 1930 and his mother in 1931 and he lived with one or the other of his sisters for a while.  "Ted", as he was known, worked in construction and joined the National Guard.

He was a PVT in a local National Guard unit when he entered federal service in October 1940.  It is possible that he joined G Company 116th Infantry before the regiment shipped out for England in September 1942.  However, we do know that he was assigned to the unit prior to D-Day and participated in the amphibious assault on Omaha Beach on 6 Jun 1944. PFC Kobza was wounded on 8 Jun 1944 and evacuated to hospital. He was returned to the unit from the replacement depot on 25 Jul 1944. Ted was wounded again on 7 Aug 1944 in the battle for Vire and again evacuated to hospital.  He returned to the unit from the replacement depot on Christmas Eve 1944. PFC Kobza was killed in action on 1 Mar 1945 at Giesenkirchen, Germany.

PFC Kobza was buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery.

PFC Claude Thomas Moore

PFC Claude Thomas Moore was born 11 Nov 1914 in Prairie Grove, Arkansas. He was the 2nd of 6 children born to William M. and Edna Bell (Beaty) Moore. The family farmed. On 1 May 1937, Claude married Gladys Beatrice Dunham. The couple moved to Yakima County, Washington where Claude worked as a farm hand.

Claude was drafted in August 1943. After his training he was sent to Europe and transferred from the replacement depot to K Company 116th Infantry on 24 Jul 1944. He was wounded on 4 Aug 1944 near Vire, France and did not return to the unit until he was transferred from the replacement depot on 3 Jan 1945. PFC Moore was killed in action on 1 Mar 1945.

PFC Moore rests forever in the Netherlands American Cemetery.

PFC Benjamin Edwin Smith

PFC Benjamin Edwin Smith was born 6 Sep 1919 in Paterson, New Jersey. He was the 4th of 5 children born to Arthur Cleveland and Julia Akers (Green) Smith. His father drove trucks for various companies. Benjamin married Averil Cecelia Daniel in June 1938 and the couple had their first son in November 1938 and their second in July 1942. Benjamin worked for Woolworth Company as a shipping clerk and then for Wright Aero.

Benjamin was drafted in June 1944, completed his basic military training and was then sent to the European theater in September 1944. However he was apparently not sent to a combat unit until he was transferred from the replacement depot to G Company 116th Infantry on 15 Dec 1944. PVT Smith was promoted to PFC on 2 Feb 1945. He was killed in action on 1 Mar 1945 near Mönchengladbach, Germany.

PFC Smith rests forever in the Netherlands American Cemetery.

His brother, Albert Edward Smith also served in the U.S. Army in the European theater.

SGT Anthony Joseph Paradiso

SGT Anthony Joseph Paradiso was born 14 Apr 1922 in Tiffin, Ohio. He was the 3rd of 9 children and oldest son born to Salvatore and Maria Grazia (Cercelli) Paradiso. His father worked for what is now Webster Industries, Inc. in Tiffin. The family lived at the house he purchased at 380 Miami Street in Tiffin which was valued at $2000 in 1940. Anthony graduated from Calvert High School and worked as a clerk in a shoe store.

He was still in that line of work when he was drafted in September 1942. After his basic military training he would not be sent to Europe until June 1944. SGT Paradiso was assigned to L Company 116th Infantry on 7 Aug 1944 joining the unit near Vire, France. He was wounded by artillery fire on 1 Sep 1944 and evacuated to hospital. His recovery complicated by pneumonia, he returned to the unit via the replacement depot on 3 Jan 1945. On 5 Feb 1945 SGT Paradiso was sent to the 29th Division training center on temporary duty for 7 days. He was wounded in the face on 27 Feb 1945 but remained on duty. SGT Paradiso was killed in action on 1 Mar 1945.

SGT Paradiso rests forever in the Netherlands American Cemetery.

1SG Alfred Baker McClure Jr.

courtesy of Jay Kelly

1SG Alfred Baker McClure Jr. was born 7 Sep1913 in Fairfax County, Virginia. He was the 2nd of 3 children born to Alfred Baker and Laura Hayes (Dean) McClure. Alfred senior worked as a carpenter.  Alfred junior managed to complete 4-years of high school.

Alfred was apparently working as a driver in Richmond, Virgina when he was drafted in May 1941. Assigned to the 116th Infantry at Camp Meade, Maryland, he must have demonstrated exceptional competence to be promoted to 1SG of C Company 116th Infantry before 6 Jun 1944. After training with the unit for the amphibious assault as part of the planned invasion of occupied Europe 1SG McClure participated in that effort.When there was some question about C Company's landing, 1st Sgt. Alfred B. McClure said that the first, second, and third assault sections sections arrived almost if not entirely intact. Alfred was wounded on 29 Jun 1944 and evacuated to hospital. He returned to C Company on 12 Aug 1944 serving as 1SG with that unit until 11 Sep 1944 when he was transferred to I Company 116th Infantry. He was transferred again on 21 Oct 1944, this time to B Company 116th Infantry. 1SG McClure was killed in action on 1 Mar 1944.

1SG McClure was repatriate in 1948 and re-interred in Fairfax City Cemetery in Fairfax, Virginia.

PVT Saul G. Sloane

courtesy of PIN

PVT Saul G. Sloane was born 3 Sep 1915 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the 2nd of the 3 children born to Joseph and Sarah (Simcovitch) Sloane. His father was a native of Minsk, now Belarus and his mother from Poland what they had in common was their Jewish roots and spoke in Yiddish. His father worked as a salesman selling shoes in the Boston area and then tires in the area of Montebello, California where they family moved before 1930. Saul attended 3-years of college before he married Bertha Garber, a California native, in 1938 and the couple lived at 3415½ Vineyard Street  just off West Jefferson Boulevard in Los Angeles. Saul worked as a mail carrier and Bertha at a retail sewing station (presumably as a seamstress) earning a 1939 income of $2000 and $540 respectively. That was a pretty good income for the time and the couple paid $35 a month rent for their home.

Saul was drafted in October 1943. After his military training he was sent to Europe and transferred from the replacement depot to I Company 116th Infantry on 7 Aug 1944. Having already attained the rank of T5, there was apparently a need to cross-level him and he was transferred to L Company 116th Infantry on 11 Aug 1944.  T5 Sloane fought with the unit until he was briefly captured on 29 Aug 1944 in the attack to liberate Brest but returned to duty after the Germans surrendered. He was injured by artillery fire and evacuated to hospital on 22 Sep 1944. T5 Sloane did not return to the unit until 22 Dec 1944 when he was reassigned as a rifleman. He then fought with the unit until killed in action in the vicinity of Monchengladbach, Germany on 1 Mar 1945.

T5 Sloane was repatriated in 1949 and re-interred in the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California.