 |
| Andrew McCorkle was a 2nd Ranger Battalion PFC at Pointe du Hoc. His brother James was a pharmacist mate at Iwo Jima. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/66974309/andrew-pruitt-mccorkle https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/103872185/james-eugene-mccorkle https://www.kcet.org/shows/d-day-at-pointe-du-hoc/episodes/d-day-at-pointe-du-hoc https://www.reddit.com/r/wwiipics/comments/9kfdzb/combat_medics_care_of_wounded_marines_in_iwo_jima/ |
Andrew Pruitt McCorkle never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on August 22, 1919 in Georgia. His parents William and Ellie were also both born in Georgia. His father worked as a farmer. Pruitt had one older sister, three younger brothers, and one younger sister. By 1940 Pruitt had completed three years of high school. He lived with his parents and worked on the family farm.
He was drafted by the US Army in January 1941. He became a private first class in Company D, 2nd Ranger Battalion. This was an all volunteer force, especially trained to take Pointe du Hoc on D-Day.
In the planning for D-Day, PFC McCorkle's company along with Companies E and F were given the assignment of scaling the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, more than one hundred feet high, to take out powerful 155mm guns that threatened the invasion beaches and invasion forces at both Omaha Beach and Utah Beach. The attack began with 225 men, but 35 were lost in the sea before the rest made it to land. The Rangers successfully reached the top of the cliff and destroyed the guns, which had been moved back to avoid Allied bombing. The Rangers lost many men defending the high point from German counterattacks. After two days they were reduced to 90 men.
PFC McCorkle was killed on the last day, June 8, 1944 when the Rangers were assigned to move west and take Grandcamp le Bains. The 2nd RB was so depleted that the task was passed on the the 5th RB and the 116th IR. Perhaps PFC served as a liaison during the attack that cost his life.
Brother James Eugene McCorkle became a pharmacist 3rd class in the US Navy. During the Battle of Iwo Jima he was machine-gunned while rendering aid to a wounded marine. He was wounded and evacuated but died on a hospital ship on March 20, 1945.
They are buried at New Providence Baptist Cemetery in Buena Vista, Georgia.
Last year on this date I profiled combat engineer Hiram Collins. You can read about Hiram 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
No comments:
Post a Comment