WW2 Battle of the Bulge Fallen - Combat engineer Horace Derrickson

Corporal Horace Derrickson, 1278th Combat Engineers Battalion was killed in the Battle of the Bulge.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39598634/horace-elmer-derrickson/photo
http://www.bigonville.info/Bigonville_in_World_War_II/1128ECGrp.html 

Horace Elmer Derrickson never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

He was born on July 8, 1918 in Delaware. His parents Samuel were also born in Maryland and Delaware, respectively. His father worked as a boat engineer. Horace had three older sisters, one older brother, and three younger brothers.

He enlisted in the army on January 9, 1941. He became a corporal in Company C, 1278th Combat Engineers Battalion. In December 1944 the 1278th CEB had just completed the the longest fixed bridge ever built by army engineers when they constructed a bridge over the Meuse River. It was next in the Ardennes Forest running saw mills to produce lumber needed for winterization plans. 

When the Germans launched their massive attack into the Ardennes on December 16, the 1278th CEB was assigned to guard ammunition dumps along the path of the German advance. By December 19, the Germans had arrived in strength. Two days later the engineers were ordered to attack the enemy in the village of Martelange to keep the road open for Patton's tanks to relieve Bastogne. The attack was repulsed by the better armed Germans, but it kept them checked from moving forward until Patton's tanks arrived. Corporal Derrickson was one of those killed in action that day.

His grave is at Mariners Bethel United Methodist Church Cemetery in Ocean View, Delaware.

Thank you Cpl. Derrickson for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Horace.

Last year on this date I profiled Frank Ruch. You can read about Frank 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.

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WW2 Fallen 100 is supported by

The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation

“Where Every Day is Memorial Day”

http://www.tggf.org