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| Sgt. Riley Hurst served in the 90th Infantry Division in Normandy. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/66959398/riley-d_-hurst http://www.combatreels.com/90th_infantry_division_normandy_dvd.cfm |
Riley and his brother Arthur both registered for the draft in February 1942. After joining the army he ended up serving in the 358th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division (Nicknamed Tough 'Ombres) and had the rank of Tec 4. The 90th Infantry Division arrived in England in April 1944, scheduled to take part in the Normandy invasion. The 358th Infantry Regiment landed on Utah Beach on June 8, 1944 (D+2).
Riley was killed in action in France, July 7, 1944. The 90th ID website has this information about the time when he died:
"The preceding battles in the Normandy Hedgerow country had been rough but the ensuing battles were to be equal tests of the mettle of the fighting men of the 358th Infantry. On the July 3rd, a memorable day in the battle of France, the Division launched an attack southwest against a strong enemy line defended by determined, fanatical paratroopers and SS men. On the first day of the attack, the rains came and the damp dismal weather of the succeeding days made the battle one of the most unforgettable in history. Casualties were heavy and communications and supply were hampered by heavy enemy shelling. The 2nd Battalion charged through to Les Sablons, bypassed it, and continued south, while the First Battalion fought for St. Jores. The Third Battalion, initially in reserve, moved up to Les Sablons to clean out the town and tie in with the Second Battalion."
In 1940, Ponca City was a town of just over 16,000 residents. Altogether, Ponca City High School saw 1,515 of their students or former students take up arms in World War Two. Riley is one of the seventy one names on the plaque commissioned in 1948 to memorialize those did not return.
His grave is at the Oddfellows Cemetery in Ponca City, OK.
I was born in Ponca City and passed this plaque daily when I was in high school. Ponca City is also the home of Waddy Young that piloted a B-29 (Waddy’s Wagon) that never returned in January, 1945. There are 71 names on this plaque and it is now interesting to see the last names of uncles and grandfather’s of classmates from the past.
This profile was researched and written by Chris Prough - "Lives in Mount Pleasant, IA with his lovely wife Susanne and their eight children where there are no mountains and the jury is still out on the whole "pleasant" thing. Lover of history since a child. I believe in this endeavor as my own great uncle, Harold Ozmun, was profiled on December 15, 2018. Many thanks to Don for affording me the privilege to help him out."
This is one of the final 100 stories (63) to be written as part of this project which ends on September 2, 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. At that time more than 1,370 men and women will have been profiled. The project will live on in an expanded program to write the stories of all 400,000+ US World War II fallen. Visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org to learn more. We welcome your continued support and interest and encourage you to help write some of these stories.
Last year on this date I profiled B-24 flight engineer Mark Ebert. You can read about Mark 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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