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| Lt. Howard Littell was in the same 3rd Battalion Headquarters Company, in the 506th Parachute Regiment, as his commanding officer Lt. Colonel Robert Wolverton, shown here checking his chute the evening before D-Day. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=23992685&ref=acom https://www.pinterest.com/pin/538672805418191398/ |
Howard D. Littell never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on July 24, 1917 in New Jersey. His parents were also both born in New Jersey. His father worked as a coal dealer and died in 1937. Howard had one younger sister. By 1940 Howard had completed four years of high school and was still living with his mother and sister and worked as an accountant.
He enlisted in the army infantry on September 14, 1940. He was drawn to volunteer for the airborne and was recognized to be officer material. He became a first lieutenant in the Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He was in command of its 81 mm mortar platoon.
Lt. Littell safely made the jump into Normandy in the early hours of D-Day, June 6, 1944. He lost his cricket toy which the men click-clacked to identify each other and he was almost shot by a private in his platoon. His luck did not last the day. He died of wounds after being hit by multiple fragments when a German artillery shell exploded near him.
His grave is at Christ Church Cemetery in South Amboy, New Jersey.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
To mark having over 100,000 visits to my project to honor the fallen of WW2 on their 100th birthdate, I created this video to share. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
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