PFC C. J. Galloway

PVT C. J. Galloway was born 7 Feb 1925, in Butlerville, Arkansas.  After entering the army and being sent overseas he was transferred to Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry on 4 Sep 1944.  On 2 Oct 1944 he was transferred to A Company 116th Infantry.  PVT Galloway was killed in action on 5 Apr 1945.

PVT Galloway was repatriated and is buried in Butlerville Cemetery in Butlerville, Arkansas.

1SG Larkin Leander Witherspoon

1SG Larkin Leander Witherspoon was born in Jefferson, North Carolina on 11 Oct 1918. He was the 8th of 10 children born to Alexander Graham and Geneva Ann (Shatley) Witherspoon. His father farmed near Jefferson but when the sons were old enough to work the farm Alexander took a job working on a local road crew funded by the Works Project Administration (WPA) eventually becoming a foreman and earning a reported $468 in 1939. The family was fortunate to have owned the farm from before the onset of the Great Depression and this may have been what allowed Larkin and his siblings to complete high school and yet Larkin was farming for the family in 1940. 

Larkin, perhaps sensing the coming war, enlisted in the U.S. Army in September 1940. We don't know what duties or assignments he may have had but it is likely that he had not gone overseas before he married Wilma Dare Absher in Jefferson on 27 Jan 1944. 1SG Larkin was sent overseas and  assigned as First Sergeant of Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry reporting on 4 Sep 1944. However, he was needed in E Company 116th Infantry and assigned to that unit on 10 Sep 1944. He served with E Company until he was killed in action on 22 Nov 1944.

1SG Witherspoon was repatriated in 1949 and re-interred in Friendship Baptist Church Cemetery in Jefferson, North Carolina. 

Larkin and Wilma had a son born 3 Nov 1944. Brothers Wade Harrison Witherspoon and William Willford Witherspoon also served in the U.S. Army during WW2. Grandfather's William Harrison Witherspoon and Riley Shatley served in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. 

1LT Robert D. Mervyn

1LT Robert D. Mervyn was born 25 Sep 1920 in Marietta, Ohio. He was the oldest of 2 sons of Claude D. and Muriel Rowena (Evans) Mervyn. His father was a jeweler. Robert attended public schools graduating from McKinley High School in 1938. Robert was attending Ohio State University when he enlisted in the Ohio National Guard. He was federalized with his unit in October 1940. 

Robert trained with the 37th Division at Camp Shelby, Mississippi until February 1942 and then served in the Caribbean sector until September 1942. He was returned to the U.S. to attend Officer Candidate School. Robert married Mary Elizabeth Minkoff on 10 Feb 1944. After that he was sent to England until 15 Jun 1944 when he was sent across the channel to serve in France. We do not know to which unit he was assigned while there but on 15 Aug 1944 he was transferred from the replacement depot to Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry where he severed as the Intelligence (S-2) Officer for 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry, Robert returned to the unit from a leave in Paris on 17 Nov 1944. He was reportedly killed by a sniper on 20 Nov 1944.

1LT Mervyn is buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery. 

Mary became ill and died 21 Oct 1945. She is buried in Clackamas, Oregon and Robert is noted as her husband on her headstone. Robert's father was a WWI veteran. Robert's younger brother, Richard C. Mervyn, was a Lieutenant and pilot for a troop carrier stationed in England who was killed on 14 Apr 1945. The brothers are buried side-by-side.

PVT Howard E. Peterson

courtesy of Skip Farrow

PVT Howard E. Peterson appears to have been born 30 Jul 1913 in Butte, Montana. He was the youngest of the four sons of John A. and Mary (Reinwand) Peterson. John was a miner in Mary died in 1929 and John remarried soon after. Howard and one brother were residents in the Montana Industrial School in Miles City.

Howard was living in Butte when he enlisted in the Army, probably in 1935. Howard was stationed in Hawaii and at Fort McDowell, California on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. We also know that he was serving in the medical corps and was likely trained as a medic. Prior to D-Day, perhaps months prior, PVT Peterson was assigned to the 104th Medical Battalion in England. He was with that unit on 6 Jun 1944. PVT Peterson was assigned to Medical Detachment 116th Infantry on 18 Jul 1944 and then was immediately attached to Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry and served as a medical aidman in the Aid Station. Wounded by artillery fire on 15 Jul 1944 near Saint-Lo, he was relieved from attachment while in the hospital and then returned to duty with the Medical Detachment 116th Infantry on 16 Aug 1944.  PVT Peterson was wounded again on 27 Aug 1944, this time in the torso. He was first evacuated to a field hospital and underwent a splenectomy and then eventually evacuated to a military hospital at Cambridge, England where he died of his wounds on 28 Oct 1944.

 PVT Peterson rests forever in the Cambridge American Cemetery.

We know that his brother, MSG James J. Peterson was serving at what is now Edwards Air Force Base but was then known as Muroc Army Air Base in 1946.

SGT George Evert Jones Jr

SGT George Evert Jones Jr was born 3 Jan 1920 in Indianapolis, Indiana to George Evert and Icie (Evans) Jones. His father was a salesman. 

George was drafted in November 1941. After his basic training he was assigned to Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry, perhaps before the unit departed for England in September 1942.  If so, he would have trained for and taken part in the amphibious assault  place on 6 Jun 1944. SGT Jones was killed in action on 22 Oct 1944.

SGT Jones is buried in the Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery in Phoenix, Arizona.

PFC John Joseph Bishop

PFC John Joseph Bishop was born 2 Jun 1912 in Gilmanton, Minnesota to Frank Joseph and Mary Victoria (Wagner) Bishop.  Father Frank was an engineer on the railroad.  In 1930 John was working odd jobs to contribute to the large family of 13. 

We don't know when John began his service but he was assigned to Medical Detachment 116th Infantry in time to participate in the D-Day landings.  He went back and forth between the Medical Detachment and Headquarters 2nd Battalion (at their aide station) and was thought to be missing in action a couple of times.  He was killed in action on 20 Oct 1944. 

PFC Bishop is buried in the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery. 

Several of his brothers also served in WWII: Ralph Frank Bishop (PFC, Army), George Lawrence Bishop (PFC, Army), Joseph Anthony Bishop (PFC, Army).  Brother Bernard Donald Bishop served in the Army in Korea.

PVT Chester Kalman Kleinman

PVT Chester Kalman Kleinman was born on 20 May 1913, in the New York, New York. He was the youngest of five sons of Hyman and Sarah Kleinman. Both parents had immigrated from Russia. His father ran a laundry and his parents had retired by 1940.

Chester was apparently working as a foreman in a manufacturing firm when he was drafted in October 1943.  After training he was sent to Europe and transferred from the replacement depot to Headquarters 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry on 4 Sep 1944 where he was to work as a message center clerk.  There must have been some problem as he was reassigned on 2 Oct 1944 to A Company 116th Infantry as a rifleman.  A Company was in 1st Battalion 116th Infantry.  PVT Kleinman was killed in action on 19 Oct 1944.

We believe that PVT Kleinman was repatriated and is buried in a Jewish cemetery somewhere in the New York City area, possibly in New Jersey.  He is not buried overseas. 

PVT James B. Pawlik

PVT James B. Pawlik was born 12 Feb 1907 in East Saint Louis, Illinois. All we know of his parents is that they were both natives of Poland. We think that James enlisted in the Army and had been serving in the Canal Zone in 1930, returning aboard the USS Chateau Thierry in 1932. On 16 Jul 1934 he sailed aboard USAT Republic for Hawaii. He was not there, he shipped out for San Francisco aboard the USAT Republic on 7 Aug 1934. He served with the 35th Infantry at Fort McDowell, California. James was discharged in 1935 and went to work for a railroad.

James married Lucia Stiso, a native of Chicago, on 30 Jun 1937. He may have left the railroad for a bit. In 1940 he was working as a packer and Lucy was working as a milliner. Although they were working all through 1939, together they made about $1300 and paid $15 a month rent on their flat at 3232 South Wells Street in Chicago. James and Lucy had a daughter born 7 Dec 1942.

We aren't certain when James re-entered the Army but it appears that he was serving with Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry prior to D-Day, 6 Jun 1944. He worked as an ammunition handler and as an anti-tank gun crewman.  PVT Pawlik was killed in action on 18 Oct 1944 near Aachen, Germany. He was awarded the Bronze Star.

PVT Pawlik is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial.

James wife, Lucy, never re-married.  The couple had 10 grand-children 8 great grand-children.

PVT Clifford Gail Pillers

PVT Clifford Gail Pillers was born 17 Jun 1923 in Callao, Missouri. He was the 2nd of the 3 children born to Elbert Lee and Ruth A. (Morris) Pillers. His family farmed in Macon County in Missouri. Clifford graduated from high school in 1940 and continued farming.

Clifford was drafted in November 1943. Inducted at Fort Leavenworth, PVT Pillers had his basic military training at Camp Fannin, Texas. In May 1944 he had a 10-day furlough before he shipped out for England. Clifford was in England in July 1944. From there he was sent to the replacement depot and on 27 Jul 1944 was transferred to Headquarters 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry to served as a field lineman. PVT Pillers was wounded near Vires on 7 Aug 1944 and evacuated to hospital. He was transferred from the replacement depot back to the unit on 6 Sep 1944. Initially reported as missing in action, it was later confirmed that PVT Pillers had been killed in action near Aachen, Germany on 16 Oct 1944.

PVT Pillers was initially buried in the Henri-Chapelle Cemetery in Belgium but was repatriated in 1947 aboard the USAT Joseph V. Connolly and re-interred in Locust Grove Cemetery in Callao, Missouri.

PVT WIlliam Henry Glasgow

PVT William Henry Glasgow was born 16 Jul 1914 in Halifax County, Virginia to William Berryman and Lessie Oleaner (Anderson) Glasgow.  His father was a farmer. 

William was a member of the National Guard unit in Farmville, Virginia when the unit was federalized in February 1941.  Assigned to Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry, he was apparently wounded on 13 Jun 1944 and went to hospital.  He was returned to the unit on 29 Aug 1944.  In the fluid actions as the unit advanced on Germany, he was first noted as MIA and then as killed in action on 16 Oct 1944. 

He is buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery. 

PVT Willard Edgar Kuehner

courtesy of Patty

PVT Willard Edgar Kuehner was born 26 Jul 1914 in Columbus, Ohio to Edgar and Mabel V. (Reinkens) Kuehner.  His father worked variously as a coal dealer and an accountant. Willard was able to attend college and he married Genevieve Marie Herrick in 1940. Also in 1940, he was working as a bookkeeper for Ohio National Bank in Columbus and reported a 1939 income of $1250.

Willard was drafted in October 1943.  Sent to Europe after basic training, he was transferred from the replacement depot to Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry on 4 Sep 1944 where he was to serve as a message center clerk. PVT Kuehner was killed in action on 16 Oct 1944. 

PVT Kuehner is buried in Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio. Genevieve re-married in 1946, they apparently had no children.

The following is the last letter from Willard before he was killed:

Censor's Stamp - Lt. PL Jones

To: Mrs. Willard E. Kuehner, 1427 Parsons Ave. #5, Columbus 7, Ohio

From: Pvt. W. E. Kuehner 35296314, Hdq Co 2 Bn 116 Inf APO 29 c/o PM New York N.Y.

Oct 11 1944

My Darling,

We just finished a couple of very bad days, being wet and cold and having no place to sleep except a hole in the ground. I'll tell you, Honey, its no fun and if I couldn't have you back there waiting for me I don't think I would dig so deep. It all seems so useless to have to spend the best years of your life living like this. It has been so long since I had a bath that I stink. One bright light to all this is I am getting your mail. Those pictures sure looked natural & I like that perky hat & purse. I enjoyed reading Bill's letter. He has had a lot of the same experiences I am having I guess but at least he has a truck to sleep in. The last two nights I've slept sitting up in the hole expecting water to come in any time. Tonight should be better as we have a new place. I am sorry you are being bothered by the neighbors. I know just the type. I think the best thing to do is to have nothing to do with them at all. This is one of Mom's Vmail. Normally we have plenty but it came in handy this time. Honey you are right about taking it where it should go & the name you couldn't get was Uncle Charlie Reinkens. Honey your letters are a real booster. Your description of us going to a football game sure made me homesick. We had so much fun. I have been in Belgium & Holland and the countries both are nice looking. In Holland we stayed in an orchard and had some of the best apples and it was there I talked to those little kids. There seems to be one Jerry plane come over every night about dark and the fellows call him "Bed Check Charlie". Honey you tell Mabel I witnessed the whole show that her husband was in and I mean we were really glad to see them coming. Honey I suppose I am leaving a lot of questions unanswered but the time that elapses from when I get the letters till when I have a chance to write makes it hard. As you say when I get back a lot of things will be much clearer. The weather has been the worse (sic) thing against us so far this time. I am glad I don't drive a truck. You know me in mud.

All my love,

Willard

PVT Marcus Segan

courtesy of Des Philippet

PVT Marcus Segan was born in 1916 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was the 3rd of the 4 children born to Toma and Milka (Gropac) Segan. His parents were natives of Yugoslavia. Toma (called Tom here) had immigrated in 1906 and Milka (called Mildred) came in 1912. She left the couple's first child, Pero, with his grandparents. Mildred would not see Pero until 1957 and Marcus never met him. Tom died in 1923. Mildred married Stanley Wujnovich in 1928. Stanley worked as a crane operator in an elevator factory but he died at the age of 46 just 6-years later in 1934. Marcus graduated from East Technical High School and went to work as a grinder at the Cleveland Wire Spring factory. He attended the Cleveland Police Cadet Course #14 and graduated in August 1943. He then went to work as a Cleveland police officer, badge number 312.

Just 4 months after beginning service on the Cleveland police force, Marcus was drafted in December 1943. After his basic military training including training with military communications equipment, PVT Segan was sent to the European theater. He was transferred from the replacement depot to Headquarters 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry on 4 Sep 1944. The unit was in reserve near Kerkrade, Holland when he was in a jeep transporting coils of wire with 4 other soldiers from 2nd Battalions signal section when the vehicle struck and detonated a German mine. 4 men, including PVT Segan were killed. Dying with him were CPL Wimburne Phinney, PVT Hairston Cumberland, and PVT Earl Dale Potter.

PVT Segan rests forever in the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery. 

PFC Hairston Cumberland

PFC Hairston Cumberland, b. 27 Nov 1924 - d. 7 Oct 1944. Son of Wheeler Lewis and Susan Francis (Copeland) Cumberland of Philadelphia, Mississippi. Hairston was a star football player in his high school and his jersey was retired and displayed until a fire burned the school in 1950. Hairston was drafted in 1943 and ultimately assigned to Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry. He is buried in Cedarlawn Cemetery in Philadelphia, Mississippi.

His unit was in reserve near Kerkrade, Holland when he was in a jeep transporting coils of wire with 4 other soldiers from 2nd Battalion's signal section when the vehicle struck and detonated a German mine. 4 men, including PVT Cumberland were killed. Dying with him were CPL Wimburne Phinney, PVT Marcus Segan, and PVT Earl Dale Potter.

PVT Earl Dale Potter

courtesy of Des Philippet

PVT Earl Dale Potter was born 21 Jul 1920 in Provo, Arkansas. He was the 8th of the 11 children born to Benjamin Dallas and Martha Loutisia (Kaiser) Potter. The family repeatedly moved living in 3 different Texas counties and in 2 counties in Arkansas. His father supported the family by farming and various other jobs including working in bridge construction. His oldest sister died at age 25 in 1923, his father in 1932 of peritonitis, and his mother in 1935 of tuberculosis. A brother had died in infancy before Earl was born. His 3 youngest brothers were sent to Buckner's Orphan's Home in Dallas, Texas. Earl went to work and by 1940 was working as a mason for Harkey Malakoff in Malakoff, Texas. Brother, Lowell Benjamin Potter, died at age 16 in 1942.

Earl was drafted in July 1942. It was probably after his military training in communications that he married Alice Mary Pitre on 10 Aug 1943 in Thibodaux, Louisiana. They would have a daughter in August 1944. PVT Potter had likely already been sent to the European theater and transferred from the replacement depot on 4 Sep 1944 to Headquarters 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry where he served in the signal section. PVT Potter was in a jeep near Kerkrade, Holland transporting coils of wire with 4 other soldiers from 2nd Battalion's signal section when the vehicle struck and detonated a German mine. 4 men, including PVT Potter were killed. Dying with him were CPL Wimburne Phinney, PVT Hairston Cumberland, and PVT Marcus Segan.

PVT Potter rests forever in the Henri-Chappelle American Cemetery.

Earl's grandfather, Elijah Dallas Potter, served as a PVT in H Company Lane's Texas Rangers. His brother, Lonnie Louis Potter, served as an MM3c aboard the USS Shelikof (AVP-52).

CPL Wimburne Mitchell Phinney

courtesy of the Phinney family

CPL Wimburne Mitchell Phinney was born 15 Mar 1923 in South Farmington, Nova Scotia, Canada. He was the eldest of the 4 children born to Henry Maxwell and Elizabeth Johnston (Mitchell) Phinney. His father was a native of Nova Scotia and his mother a native of England. The family moved to Massachusetts in 1928 and lived in Burlington then Melrose where all 4 children attended Melrose High School. It was noted in the high school annual for Wimburne's senior year that he wanted to join the Royal Air Force. He was still a Canadian citizen at the time. His father worked as a carpenter and general contractor but reported a 1939 income of only $323 although he owned the home at 160 Main Street in Melrose which was valued at $4500 in 1940.

Wimburne was a carpenter's apprentice when he was drafted in April 1943. He was sent to Europe after his basic military training and on 4 Sep 1944 was transferred from the replacement depot to Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry which then attacking Brest. CPL Phinney's military occupational specialty (MOS) is recorded as 803-field musician which means he was the company bugler but really was mostly a messenger/runner and support for the operations of the battalion. CPL Phinney was killed in action on 7 Oct 1944 in the vicinity of Kerkrade, Holland.

CPL Phinney rests forever in the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery.

Brother, Keith L. Phinney, was a B-17 bomber pilot during the war.

1SG James Russell Morris

1SG James Russell Morris was born 18 Aug 1918 in Otter River, Virginia. He was the 5th of 9 children born to William Franklin and Queen Victoria (Owen) Morris. His father worked as an inspector in a cedar chest factory for many years. By 1930 the family had moved to  Altavista, Virginia where they lived on Eighth Street and later owned their home at 1012 Seventh Street which was valued at $2500 in 1940. By 1940, James was working as a salesman in the gas and oil industry and reported a 1939 income of $780 and was still living at home.

James had enlisted in the Virginia National Guard before it was mobilized in February 1941 but after the creation of the 1940 "yearbook". He trained with the unit at Fort Meade, Maryland and Camp Blanding, Florida before being sent with the 116th Infantry to England in September 1942. It was sometime after mobilization but prior to deployment to England that James married Hilda West of Altavista.  He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry and was serving as a TSGT at the time of the amphibious landings on Omaha Beach on 6 Jun 1944. He was promoted to 1SG of the unit on 20 Jun 1944. He continued to serve with the unit until wounded in the La Trinite operation on 30 Aug 1944. Evacuated to hospital, 1SG Morris died of his wound(s) on 6 Sep 1944.

1SG Morris was repatriated in 1949 and re-interred in the Green Hill Cemetery in Altavista, Virginia.

James and Hilda apparently had no children. Hilda remarried in 1946.

CPT Elmer Lee Faircloth

CPT Elmer Lee Faircloth was born 17 Jul 1911 in York, Pennsylvania to William Arthur and Caroline Amanda (Wolf) Faircloth.  His father was a carpenter.  His mother died in 1923 and he and his brother lived with his paternal grandparents.  On 23 Dec 1923 he married Louise E. Lloyd. They would be divorced by 1940.  In 1940 he was living with his brother Charles and working as a laborer in a foundry and reported an income of $220 in 1939. 

Elmer went into service 17 May 1941. He married York County native Mary Elizabeth Hammer on 26 Dec 1941.  After officer training he was sent overseas.  The morning report shows him as on duty with Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry as a 1LT on 1 Jun 1944.  He was promoted to CPT on 1 Aug 1944 and commanded the Headquarters Company.  On 4 Sep 1944, he was wounded by mortar fire reportedly while inspecting his soldiers.  He died of his wounds on 5 Sep 1944. 

CPT Faircloth is buried in the Brittany American Cemetery.  Mary never remarried. He had no children. 

PVT Antonio Charles Simone

courtesy of Royzee

PVT Antonio Charles Simone was born 27 Jun 1925 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was the youngest of the 3 children born to Carmine and Giovana (Pagruralao) Simone. Both parents were natives of Italy and we know that his father came to the U.S. from near Naples in 1907. His father likely had many jobs and in 1940 was working as a caretaker for a private family earning a reported 1939 income of $1300. The family was living at 43 Pilgrim Street which they rented for $23 a month. Antonio's oldest sister, Mary, had passed away sometime before 1940. Antonio only completed 2-years of high school.

Antonio was drafted in October 1943. After completing his military training including radio operation he was sent to the European theater arriving in England about the time of  D-Day. PVT Simone was transferred from the replacement depot to Headquarters 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry on 27 Jun 1944 where he was to serve as a radio operator. PVT Simone served in that capacity at Saint-Lo, Vire and as the unit approached Brest. He was killed in action near La Trinite, France on 4 Sep 1944.

PVT Simone rests forever in the Brittany American Cemetery.

PFC James Earley Burnett

PFC James Earley Burnett, b. 24 Apr 1917 - d. 4 Sep 1944. Son of Asa Daniel and Lillie Ann (Wade) Burnette of Floyd County, VA. Enlisted in Apr 1941 and was ultimately assigned to Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry. He is buried in White Rock Cemetery in Floyd.

PFC Frank Paul Minuto

PFC Frank Paul Minuto (Francesco Paolo Minuto) was born 1 Mar 1924 in Bristol, Rhode Island the 4th child and 2nd son to Paul (Paolo) Minuto and Louise (Luigia/Luisa) Del Vecchio Minuto. He grew up in Rhode Island and when the family moved to Naugatuck, New Haven County, Connecticut, that is where he enlisted January 16, 1943 in the U.S. ARMY at age 19.

Frank was a PFC (Private First Class) in the Medical Detachment and Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion, 116th Infantry, 29th Division and was KIA (Killed In Action) on September 2, 1944 . He was buried in Saint James (Permanent Cemetery), Saint James, France in block G, row 3, grave 8 marked with a cross.

Frank was honored with the Purple Heart and Bronze Star posthumously.