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| Pvt. Arnold Harmon served with these men from the 80th Infantry Division. He was killed in action about a week after this photo was taken. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/120174932/arnold-h-harmon https://picclick.com/US-Army-Original-WWII-44th-Infantry-Division-Shoulder-362317176384.html https://www.pinterest.com/pin/538672805412506028/?autologin=true |
Arnold H. Harmon never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on May 29, 1918 in Maine. His parents Charles and Amy were both born in New Hampshire. His father worked as a physician. Arnold had five older sisters, three older brothers, and one younger brother. He married Florence Devine on December 13, 1940. He completed two years of college and worked as a salesman.
He was drafted into the army on August 3, 1944. He became a private and was assigned as a replacement rifleman in Company A, 1st Battalion, 317th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division.
As with many of the other front line infantry divisions, the 80 ID absorbed casualties that exceeded the size of the division. It would suffer more than 17,000 battle casualties before the war ended. Most likely Pvt. Harmon joined his unit after the 80th ID took part in the Battle of the Bulge where it broke through the Germans surrounding the 101st Airborne in Bastogne.
By February the 80th ID had broken through the Siegfried Line. By February 20 Pvt. Harmon's battalion had reached the village Enzen, Germany. The attack the next day, against heavy resistance, resulted in the worst losses for the regiment for the month. Losses included 70 wounded, 40 missing, and 4 killed, including Pvt. Harmon.
His grave is at Evergreen Cemetery in Caribou, Maine. I don't know what happened to his widow.
Last year on this date I profiled Medal of Honor hero Jack Knight. His story reads like the script for a John Wayne movie. You can read about Jack here.
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!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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