PVT Hubert Wall McKelvey

courtesy of Ann Elizabeth Conway

PVT Hubert Wall McKelvey was born 19 Jul 1920 in Grant, Alabama. He and his twin brother Herbert Wall McKelvey were the youngest of the 5 children born to Thomas Alvin and Ruby Lee (Medlin) McKelvey. His father farmed. His father was only 40 when he died in 1927. Ruby would remarry. Hubert would marry Marjorie Lucille Parker in January 1940.

Hubert was driving a truck when he was drafted in January 1943. After completing training as a medic, Hubert was sent to England and assigned to 104th Medical Detachment. On 15 Jun 1944 he was assigned to the 116th Medical Detachment. On 19 Jun 1944 he was attached to Headquarters 1st Battalion 116th Infantry to work in their aide station. PVT McKelvey was killed in action on 2 Jul 1944.

PVT McKelvey was repatriated in 1949 and re-interred in Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama.

Grandfather, Richard Henry Medlin, served as a CPT in E Company 37th Tennessee Infantry (CSA). Great-grandfather, John Nelson Martin, served as a CPT in D Company 35th Alabama Infantry (CSA). Henry J. Hulsey, served as a PVT in I Company 42nd Tennessee Infantry.

PFC Elmer Frank Mlinaric

PFC Elmer Frank Mlinaric was born 21 Dec 1923 in Trafford, Pennsylvania. He was the eldest of 3 children born to Ivan Thomas and Catherine Sue (Badida) Mlinarc. The family name seems to have evolved from "Minerich" after Elmer's paternal grandfather immigrated from Croatia which was part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. Elmer's father worked as a skilled moulder in a steel foundry earning enough to purchase a home at 671 Sixth Street in Trafford valued at $6000 in 1930. Ivan was still working in the foundry in 1940 having earned a reported $1200 in 1939. However the depression was likely affecting the family as their home was only valued at $5000 in 1940. Elmer was able to graduate from Trafford High School in 1942. That is his senior photo shown here. 

Elmer was drafted in February 1943 and after about 5-months of basic military training he was sent to the European theater and on 13 Jun 1944 was transferred from the replacement depot to A Company 116th Infantry and then on 15 Jun 1944 to B Company 116th Infantry as the 1st Battalion worked to strengthen these 2 companies which had taken the worst losses in the landing on 6 Jun 1944. PFC Mlinaric fought with B Company until killed in action on 2 Jul 1944. How he was killed is not known but PFC Mlinaric's body could not be recovered and he is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. 

PVT Elbert Hainline Clawson

PVT Elbert Hainline Clawson was born 7 May 1923 in Peublo County, Colorado to Jesse Elbert and Caroline Ruth (Hainline) Clawson.  He was raised with his 10 siblings and half-siblings on the family farm in Gooding County, Idaho and later in Lemhi County, Idaho. 

Elbert was still living in Lemhi County when he was drafted in June 1943.  He was likely assigned to 104th Medical Battalion on D-Day as on the 18th he was transferred from that unit to Medical Detachment 116th Infantry. He was then attached from there to Headquarters 1st Battalion 116th Infantry and then to C Company 116th Infantry on 21 Jun 1944.  The morning report shows PVT Clawson as being seriously wounded in action on 1 Jul 1944 and sent to hospital but is later corrected to indicate that he was killed in action on 2 Jul 1944. 

PVT Clawson's body was returned to the U.S. in 1948 and he is buried in City Cemetery in Salmon, Idaho. 

PVT Pasquale Albert Barile

PVT Pasquale Albert Barile was born 13 Mar 1924 in Middlesex County, Massachusetts with his twin sister to Gaetano and Margaret Barile. The twins had one brother. Gaetano supported his family as a tailor.

Drafted in April 1943, PVT Barile was apparently assigned to and landed with L Company 116th Infantry, PVT Barile was transferred to B Company 116th Infantry on 12 Jun 1944.  He was reported missing in actin on 5 Jul 1944 but was later found to have been killed in action on 2 Jul 1944.

PVT Barile is buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Medford, Masschusetts.

PFC Everett William Satzke

courtesy of L. Lee

PFC Everett William Satzke was born 28 Jun 1924 in Elmhurst, Illinois. He was the first born of the 3 children of Fred Lawrence and Meta M. (Mollenkamp) Satzke. His father drove a truck for a coal company when the family lived on Glade Avenue in York, Illinois in 1930 and was still doing the same work in 1940. The family had moved to Bloomingdale.

Everett was drafted in March 1943. After his basic military training he was sent to England and assigned to D Company 116th Infantry. He trained with the unit for and participated in the amphibious assault on D-Day, 6 Jun 1944. Surviving that he went on to fight with the unit until wounded on 1 Jul 1944. He was evacuated to a front-line hospital where he died of his wound(s) on 2 Jul 1944. 

PFC Satzke was repatriated and re-interred in Elm Lawn Cemetery in Elmhurst, Illinois.

PVT John Saxon Payne

PVT John Saxon Payne was born 7 May 1925 in Greenwood, South Carolina. He was the eldest of the 4 children born to Joseph Robley and Alice Pearl (Norman). The youngest sibling, David, died in infancy in 1938. His father worked as an agent for an oil company earning a reported $1800 in 1939 and owning the family home at 411 Stanley Avenue in Greenwood which was valued at $8000 in 1940 but there is only a vacant lot there today. John, or "Saxie" as he was often called, graduated from high school in January 1943. He had lettered in three sports, managed the school store, played in the band and gotten high marks. After graduation he worked as a driver while living with his parents and sisters.

After being drafted in September 1944 he spent about 10 days at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He was then transferred to Camp Wheeler, Georgia for 17 weeks of training. After that it was to Fort Meade, Maryland and embarkation to the European theater arriving in England on 18 Apr 1944. From there it was on to France and on 13 Jun 1944 he was transferred from the replacement depot to G Company 116th Infantry. Due to cross-leveling after the tremendous losses in the regiment on and immediately following D-Day, he was again transferred this time to F Company 116th Infantry. He fought with that unit until killed in action on 2 Jul 1944.

PVT Payne was repatriated and re-interred at Edgewood Cemetery in Greenwood, South Carolina where he will rest forever with family members.

PVT Pete M. Garza

PVT Pete M. Garza was transferred from the replacement depot to C Company 116th Infantry on 22 Jun 1944.  He was killed in action on 1 Jul 1944.  His body was repatriated and we believe he was buried in Texas.

2LT Blair Jennings Dixon

2LT Blair Jennings Dixon was born 9 Jun 1921 in Washington, D.C. to Herbert Albert and Goldye Elden (Beans) Dixon.  His father worked as a salesman in a cigar store. In 1940, Blair was clerking in a grocery. 

Blair was drafted in October 1942.  Sent overseas and assigned to D Company 116th Infantry he was with the unit on D-Day.  2LT Dixon was killed in action on 1 Jul 1944. 

Repatriated in 1948, 2LT Dixon is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. 

2LT Louis Peter Monk Jr.

at St. John's Military Academy

2LT Louis Peter Monk Jr. was born 27 Aug 1925 in Racine, Wisconsin. He was the only son and first born of 3 children of Louis Peter and Jessie C. Monk. His father worked as an engineer at Harvey Spring and Forging in Racine and was manager of the Standard Steel Spring Company in Gary, Indiana beginning about 1936. Louis attended St. John's Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin and then Indiana University at Peru, Indiana. 

Louis entered the Army in February 1943. After attending training including Officer Candidate School, he was sent to the European theater. 2LT Monk was transferred from the replacement depot to D Company 116th Infantry on 16 Jun 1944. He was killed in action on 1 Jul 1944.

2LT Monk was repatriated and re-interred in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

Louis may have been the youngest officer of the 116th who died in WW2 as he was not quite 19 when he died.

PFC Edward J. Green

courtesy of Bessie Savery

PFC Edward J. Green was born in 1911 in Bloomfield, New Jersey to John H. and Alice M. Green. His father died in 1929 and Edward was apprenticed to a hosiery maker.

Edward was drafted in May 1942.  He was sent to England and assigned to A Company 116th Infantry.  PFC Green was killed in action on 1 Jul 1944.

PFC Green is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery.

PVT Peter Daniel Kisiel

courtesy of Debbie Hamilton

PVT Peter Daniel Kisiel was born 3 Jan 1916 in New Jersey to Daniel and Anna (Burachonak) Kisiel.  His parents were natives of  Lithuania his father being born in Vilnius and were of the Russian Orthodox faith. Daniel worked as a carpenter and the family lived in the Bronx for many years. The family had a reported 1939 income of $2408.

Peter had completed high school and was working in manufacturing when he was drafted in June 1943. After his initial training he was sent to England and assigned to G Company 116th Infantry. He trained with that unit for and participated in the amphibious assault that took place on D-Day, 6 Jun 1944.  He was wounded on 30 Jun 1944 and evacuated to hospital where he died of his wound(s) on 1 Jul 1944.

PVT Kisiel was repatriated in 1949 and was buried in Saint Vladimir's Russian Orthodox Cemetery in Jackson, New Jersey.

SGT Donald Roy McNabb

SGT Donald Roy McNabb was born 1 Oct 1925 in Powell County, Kentucky. It is unclear who is father was but we know that he went to live with his uncle, George Oscar McNabb, after his father died and his mother re-married and also apparently died. George owned and ran a general store in Clark County, Kentucky, near Winchester.

Donald was working as a driver when he was drafted in May 1943. After his initial training he was sent to England and assigned to C Company 116th Infantry. He trained with that unit for the amphibious landing on the French coast that was to be a part of the invasion of occupied Europe. He participated in the landings on D-Day, 6 Jun 1944. He was promoted to SGT on 21 Jun 1944. On 1 Jul 1944 he was wounded and died of his wound(s) that same day.

SGT McNabb rests forever in the Normandy American Cemetery.

Uncle, George Oscar McNabb, with whom Donald lived for a time after his father's death, was a veteran of WWI.

PVT J. C. Bryant

PVT J. C. Bryant was born in 1923 in Marion County, Tennessee to Jesse Lawrence and Ethel (Nolan) Bryant.  We can not find where J. C. was ever referred to by other than these initials.  The family farmed. 

After J. C. was enlisted and trained he was sent overseas and on 16 Jun 1944 he was transferred from the replacement depot to C Company 116th Infantry.  He was with that unit when he was killed in action on 1 Jul 1944. 

PVT Bryant is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery. 

SSG Vance Elroy Mead

courtesy of Richard Howell

SSG Vance Elroy Mead was born 27 Mar 1918, probably in Spencer, Michigan.  He was the youngest of 3 children born to Charles R. and Ethel A. (Baldwin), born 15-years after their 2nd child. His father farmed. Vance completed 4-years of high school. His father died in 1939 and Vance was farming to support himself and his mother in 1940.

Vance was drafted in January 1942 at which time he was probably working in furniture manufacture. After his initial training he was assigned to C Company 116th Infantry and probably went with the unit to Camp Blanding, Florida and aboard the Queen Mary to England in September 1942. His demonstrated competence resulted in promotions to the rank of SSG which he was when the unit fought their way ashore on Omaha Beach on D-Day, 6 Jun 1944. He survived that to fight with the unit until killed in action on 1 Jul 1944.

SSG Mead was repatriated in 1948 and re-interred in the Spencer Mills Cemetery in Harvard, Michigan.

SGT Leslie Edward Bragg

from 1940 "annual"

SGT Leslie Edward Bragg was born 7 Feb 1922 in Fluvanna County, Virginia. He was the 3rd of the 6 children born to Early Venable and Myrtle Lee (Melton) Bragg. His father worked as farm labor and in 1940 so did Leslie and his older brother Wallace. Together they reported a 1939 income of $850. This may be why Wallace and Leslie joined the local National Guard unit, K Company 116th Infantry.

Leslie was with the unit when it was federalized in February 1941. He then trained with the unit at Fort  George Meade, Maryland before participating in the Carolina Maneuvers and training at Camp Blanding, Florida. He then went to England with his unit aboard the Queen Mary where he trained with the unit in preparation for the amphibious landing that was part of the effort to liberate Nazi occupied France. He took part in the D-Day landing on 6 Jun 1944 and fought with the unit until wounded on 30 Jun 1944. Evacuated to hospital, SGT Bragg died of his wound(s) on 1 Jul 1944. 

SGT Bragg was repatriated in 1949 and re-interred in the Riverview Cemetery in Charlottesville, Virginia/

Great-grandfather William Daniel Payne was a PVT in Massie's Battery of Artillery (CSA) in the Civil War. 2 brothers served in WW2, Wallace Venable Bragg and Russell Berkley Bragg served in the U.S. Army during the war, Wallace being transferred out of the 116th Infantry and Russell being in B Company 9th Armored Engineer Battalion and present at the capture of the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen.

PVT Anthony R. Calia

courtesy of Bessie Savery

PVT Anthony R. Calia was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1920 to Leonard and Concetta (Grasso) Cali. Leonard worked at a piano company. In 1939 Leonard Cali had a reported income of $1300.  In 1940, Anthony was working for a printer.  He had a 1939 income of $520 and was still living with his parents.

When Anthony was drafted in September 1942 he was working as a typesetter.  Sometime after he was drafted he married Maimie Joan Passarella. He was trained as an ammunition handler. On 16 Jun 1944, Anthony was transferred from the replacement depot to Headquarters Company 1st Battalion 116th Infantry.  On 1 Jul 1944 PVT Calia was wounded and evacuated to the hospital.  He died of his wounds at the hospital that same day. 

 PVT Calia is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery. 

A quick note on Anthony's name.  At some point in his military service the name was changed, probably via the inattentiveness of a company clerk.  The spelling, "Calia", was used on his interment record.  Maimie remarried after the war. 

SGT Frank Thomas Lyons

courtesy of Frogman

SGT Frank Thomas Lyons was born 18 Nov 1919 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the only child of John Lawrence and Agnes (Phillips) Lyons.  His father worked in a shipyard but his parents separated soon after his birth. Then he lived with his mother and maternal grandmother, his mother supporting the family as a knitter in a factory.  In 1940, Frank was supporting his mother working in a carpet factory.  He reported $600 income for 1939, their rent was $18 a month or $216 for the year.

Frank was drafted in October 1941.  At the time he is single without dependents. It is probable that he was assigned to K Company 116th Infantry shortly thereafter and he trained with the unit at Camp Blanding, Florida and traveled with the unit to England. He trained there for the amphibious assault that took place on 6 Jun 1944.  He landed on Omaha beach with K Company but was transferred to A Company 116th Infantry on 11 Jun 1944 as the regiment struggled to bring that unit up to something approaching effective strength.  He was wounded and evacuated to hospital where he died of his wounds on 1 Jul 1944.

SGT Lyons was buried in the Normandy American Cemetery.

PVT Patrick Murphy Cunningham

PVT Patrick Murphy Cunningham was born 15 Oct 1919. 5th of 8 children of Purdy Mayo and Clara Belle (Murphy) Cunningham in Smith, Missouri.  His brother Wynn Mayo Cunningham also served in the Army during the war. 

Patrick was assigned to C Company 116th Infantry on D-Day.  He was killed in action on 1 Jul 1944. 

PVT Cunningham is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery.

PFC Lucius Douglas Holston

PFC Lucius Douglas Holston was born 5 Apr 1922 to Henry Douglas and Zular Isabella (Perry) Holston of Hale County, Alabama. The family farmed. His mother died in 1928. 

Lucius was still farming when he was drafted in November 1942.  Trained and sent to England he was assigned to Headquarters 1st Battalion 116th Infantry. He participated in the D-Day landing on Omaha Beach with that unit. However, likely due to cross-leveling in the battalion to adjust for losses, he was transferred to C Company 116th Infantry on 14 Jun 1944 where he served as a BAR gunner (auto-rifleman).  PFC Holston was killed in action on 1 Jul 1944.

PFC Holston is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery.

PVT Roy Freeman Wheeler

PVT Roy Freeman Wheeler was born 22 Apr 1925 in Glasgow, Kentucky. He was the 2nd of the 3 sons born to Claude William and Eva N. (Pickerel) Wheeler. Claude worked as a sawyer earning a reported $250 for 29 weeks work in 1939. This being the Great Depression, he had to move his family to where he found work. Consequently, Freeman, as he was called, did not continue his formal education past the 8th grade and by 1943 he was also working in a mill, this being Hickory Mill in Monticello, Kentucky. 

Freeman was drafted in August 1943. After completing his basic military training he was sent to Europe. PVT Wheeler was transferred from the replacement depot to G Company 116th Infantry on 13 Jun 1944. He was transferred to F Company 116th Infantry sometime between 22 and 28 Jun 1944. PVT Wheeler was killed in action when he was struck by artillery fire on 1 Jul 1944.

PVT Wheeler was repatriated in 1948 and re-interred in the Mills Spring National Cemetery in Nancy, Kentucky.

2LT Edward Julius Frederick Karge

2LT Edward Julius Frederick Karge was born 21 Feb 1916 in Chicago, Illinois to Frank Rudolph and Clara E. T. (Pleger) Karge. His father worked as a stone cutter. Edward would work for the Continental Illinois Bank at 231 South LaSalle in Chicago.

Edward enlisted in November 1940 and was a PFC in a Chicago, Illinois National Guard unit when it was federalized in March 1941.  After completing his initial training, including officer candidate school and commissioning on 16 Dec 1942, Edward married Marie Helen Westphal on 19 Dec 1942 in Chicago while on his 10-day furlough.  He was then posted to Camp McCain, Mississippi. Some time after that Edward was sent to Europe and transferred from the replacement depot on 23 Jun 1944 to G Company 116th Infantry where he was to serve as a platoon leader.  On 30 Jun 1944 2LT Karge was wounded and evacuated to hospital. He died of his wounds on 1 Jul 1944.

2LT Karge was repatriated in 1948 and now rests forever with his parents in Bethania Cemetery in Justice, Illinois. His younger brother, Frank William Karge, also served in the U.S. Army during the war.

PVT Edward Hicks Gesner

PVT Edward Hicks Gesner, b. 23 Mar 1925 - d. 1 Jul 1944. Son of Percy William and Lucy D Gesner of Fall River, Massachusetts. Edward was drafted in August 1943 and ultimately assigned to C Company 116th Infantry on 22 Jun 1944. He is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery. This photo comes from his high school album.

PVT Benjamin Hoch

PVT Benjamin (Benno) Hoch was born 8 Jun 1925 in Frankford On Main, Hassen-Nassau, Germany a son of Nissen and Malia Hoch.  The Jewish family had escaped from Germany by 1940. Nissen came to the U.S. in 1938, the 4 children in 1939 via Rotterdam and Malia via Sweden in 1940.  His father had been born in Dobiecko, Poland and his mother in Czudec, Poland.

When drafted in September 1943, Benjamin was an apprentice in a construction trade and may have been partial support for his family.  After his training he was sent overseas to Europe and on 22 Jun 1944 was transferred from the 80th replacement depot to D Company 116th Infantry. PVT Hoch was wounded on 1 Jul 1944 somewhere in the vicinity of Couvains, evacuated to hospital and died of his wound(s) later that day. 

PVT Hoch is buried in Wellwood Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.

SSG Roy Franklin McKay

When SSG Roy Franklin McKay was born 6 Sep 1911 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, his father, Charles, was 24 and his mother, Gertrude, was 18. His father was killed 18 Jul 1918 serving with the 6th Engineer Brigade, 3rd Division in France when Roy was only 7. He married Lynell McMurchy on March 13, 1935, in Crittenden County, Arkansas. Assigned to D Company 116th Infantry, he died on July 1, 1944, in Basse-Normandie, France, at the age of 33, and now rests in the Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville, Basse-Normandie, France. This photo is from his high school yearbook.

PVT Alvin Herschel Norman

PVT Alvin Herschel Norman was born 26 Aug 1920 in Amsterdam, Missouri. He was the 4th of 8 children and oldest of the 2 boys born to James Fiske and Alma Mattie Doll (Finn) Norman. The family farmed for at least 20-years in Bates County, Missouri.

After being drafted and attending his basic training, Alvin was sent to England and assigned to E Company 116th Infantry. He trained for that unit for the amphibious landing that took place on 6 Jun 1944 and in which he took part. On 11 Jun 1944 he was transferred to A Company 116th Infantry when the regiment cross-leveled to replace the losses A Company had suffered on D-Day. PVT Norman fought with A Company until killed in action on 1 Jul 1944.

PVT Norman rests forever in the Normandy American Cemetery.

Alvin had 2 great-grandfathers who served in the American Civil War. James B. McKeal served as a PVT in E Company 82nd Indiana Infantry. Pleasant Gipson Hare served as a PVT in I Company 185th Ohio Infantry.