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| Cpl. Paul Ilvies served as an engineer in the 9th Infantry Division fighting in the Hurtgen Forest. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/115001408/paul-a-ilves https://9thinfantrydivision.net/battle-history/rhineland/ |
Paul A Ilvies never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on July 28, 1918 in Argentina. His parents were of Finnish descent. They brought Paul to America in 1920. I couldn't find more information about his family. By 1940 Paul had completed one year of high school.
He was drafted into the army on February 19, 1941 and sent to serve in Panama Canal Zone. He was later assigned to Company B, 15th Engineering Battalion, 9th Infantry Division where he had the rank of T/5. Cpl. Ilvies' unit saw action in Morocco, Tunisia, Sicily, and Normandy. By October 1944 it was fighting on the Siegfried Line in the Hurtgen Forest.
In five days of fighting, one 9th ID regiment (the 39th) lost 500 men and only advanced one mile. The Germans made great use of their numerous pillboxes which would have drawn the attention of engineers like Cpl. Ilvies to take them out, despite the driving rain. Most companies were reduced to size of platoons. Cpl. Ilvies was one of the soldiers killed during this part of the battle on October 11, 1944.
His grave is at Shamon Cemetery in Waldoboro, Maine.
Last year on this date I profiled Cecil Campbell. You can read about Cecil 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
From the 9th Infantry Division Association Facebook page:
ReplyDeleteYuri Beckers:
Great tribute. The 15th Engineers were working hard to destroy several roadblocks that were boobytrapped. On October 11th, the infantry could not continue forward that easy without being exposed to enemy fire once they would leave the relative “safety” of the treeline. To get armored support up to the infantry men, the roadblocks had to be removed. It is possible that Paul Ilvies got killed during these actions. Rest in peace.