WW2 Fallen - Howard Van Hoose, 3rd Armored Division

Pvt. Howard Van Hoose, 36th Armored Infantry Regiment.
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=39370321 

Howard Van Hoose never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

He was born on May 21, 1917 in Kentucky. His parents were also both born in Kentucky. His father was a grocery merchant and later a lumber merchant. Howard had an older sister. By 1940 Howard had completed 8 grades of education and moved out of his parent's home. He was working as a salesman and was married to his wife Joan. He became the manager of the Louisa branch of his dad's lumber business.

On November 20, 1943 Howard was in Huntington, West Virginia where he enrolled in the US Army as a private. He was originally in the Army Air Corp but later transferred to the 36th Armored Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Division sometime in 1945.

As the 3rd Armored Division approached the Elbe River, it discovered the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp on April 11, 1945 where slave laborers helped to build V1s and V2s. They found more dead then living. The local German citizens were made to dig the graves. As the troops moved on they noticed the German Army was well entrenched to defend the Hartz Mountains. They decided to bypass and continue on to the Elbe River. Pvt. Van Hoose was reported missing on April 15, 1945. On this same day the 3rd Armored Division was ordered to halt its advance. Pvt. Van Hoose's body was discovered later and his status was changed to Killed in Action. He was likely one of the last of the 1,810 men from the 3rd Armored Division killed in the war.

His remains were returned to be buried at Wells Buckingham Cemetery, Paintsville, Kentucky. His wife never remarried and died in 2004. They had one son.

Thank you Howard for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Howard.


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To mark having over 100,000 visits to my project to honor the fallen of WW2 on their 100th birthdate, I created this video to share.

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WW2 Fallen - Walter Kreklow, 88th Infantry Division

Lt. Walter W. Kreklow, 88th Infantry Division began his service as a private.
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9299101 

Walter W. Kreklow never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

He was born on May 20, 1917 in Wisconsin. His parents were also both born in Wisconsin and his father's parents were both from Germany. His father was a farmer. Walter had three younger sisters and three younger brothers (the older two served in the Army Air Corp during the war). By 1940 Walter had completed 8 years of schooling and had moved away from home. He was working as a farm laborer on the farm owned by the parents of his future wife. He later worked as an upholsterer.

Records show he enlisted in the National Guard in 1937 and in the US Army on July 12, 1941 (in Florida) with the rank of sergeant. A year later, in August, he attended O.C.S. and was commissioned a second lieutenant. In November 1942 he married his wife Elaine.

He advanced to the rank of first lieutenant in Company I, 3rd Battalion, 349th Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division. He left America for the North African theater in October 1943. He saw action in Africa and also Italy and was wounded three times. In mid-October 1944 the 88th ID was assigned to take Mount Grande in the cold and mud. Lt. Kreklow was killed in action on October 18, 1944. The 88th ID lost more than 6,000 men to death, wounds, and missing during the 44 days they were on the front lines for this campaign.

His remains were returned to be buried at Union Cemetery, Jefferson, Wisconsin. I don't know what happened to his widow.

Thank you Walter for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Walter.


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!

To mark having over 100,000 visits to my project to honor the fallen of WW2 on their 100th birthdate, I created this video to share.

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WW2 Fallen - Robert Putnam, 35th Infantry Division

Sgt. Robert Putnam, 35th Infantry Division.
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=73053283 

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

He was born on May 19, 1917 in Pennsylvania. I was not able to find any information about his parents or siblings. By 1940 Robert was living in Michigan, had completed four years of high school, was working as a salesman, and was married to his wife Virginia. He enlisted in the US Army on October 11, 1940.

He rose to the rank of first sergeant in the Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division. The 35th ID arrived in Normandy a month after D-Day. After breaking out of the Cotentin Peninsula in early August, Sgt. Putnam's unit was part of the effort to dislodge German troops near Mortain on August 7, 1944. The next day German SS Panzers broke into the rear areas of the American position and attacked the 2nd Battalion HQ. Sgt. Putnam was likely wounded in this engagement and he died of his wounds before the day ended.

His remains were returned to be buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska. His wife remarried after his death and died in 1972.

Thank you Robert for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Robert.


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WW2 Fallen - Audrey Harris, 37th Infantry Division

Pfc. Audrey Harris.
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=46075510 

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

He was born on May 18, 1917 in Alabama. His parents were also both born in Alabama. His father was a farm laborer. Audrey had a younger brother (who joined the army in February 1945) and a younger sister. By 1940 his parents were not living together. His mom was working as a housekeeper and Audrey, who completed one year of high school, was working in a saw mill and lived with her.

Audrey enlisted in the US Army on December 31, 1942. He was married at the time. He was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 145th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division and had the rank of private first class. Pfc. Harris may have joined his unit in time to serve in the Battle for Bougainville in the spring of 1944. The 145th Infantry Regiment participated in the invasion of Luzon in January 1945 and helped secure Manila in March 1945.

CORRECTION: In an early version of this story I reported that Pfc. Harris died May 12, 1945 when the 37th Division was resting and resupplying. I have since learned from the 37th Infantry Division in WWII (@37thidwwii) that on May 12, 1945 the 145th Infantry Regiment was actually fighting a very bloody battle at Mount Pacawagen and the Wawa Dam sector. It is likely that Pfc. Harris was killed due to this action.

His remains were returned to be buried at Orange Cemetery in Clarke County, Mississippi. I did not find any information about his widow.

Thank you Audrey for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Audrey.

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WW2 Fallen - Edward Gill, 3rd Marine Division, Iwo Jima

Marine Pfc. Edward Gill was killed in the Battle of Iwo Jima.
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=94477659&ref=acom 

Edward Henry Gill never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

He was born on May 17, 1917 in Missouri. His parents were also both born in Missouri. His father was a car repairman and later an owner of an ice and coal business. Edward had one older brother, two older sisters, one younger sister, and two younger brothers (who both served in the Navy). By 1940 Edward had completed one year of high school and was still living at home. At some point after the 1940 census, Edward married Catherine Delores Myers.

Catherine Delores Gill.
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=94479371&ref=acom 

Edward enlisted in the Marines on March 13, 1944. He was a private first class, Company F, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division.

The 3rd Marine Division was in action in Bougainville before Pfc. Gill joined the unit. He may have seen his first action at the Battle of Guam in July 1944. He was certainly involved when the 9th Marine Regiment landed on Iwo Jima five days after the February 19, 1945 initial landing. The fight on Iwo Jima cost the 3rd Marine Division 1,131 killed in action and 4,438 wounded, in other words, more than one in three leathernecks were casualties.

On March 6, their eleventh day of bitter fighting, the 9th Marine Regiment resumed an all out effort to break through the final Japanese defense line. They attacked without the normal advanced artillery fire and it caught the Japanese by surprise.

Recognizing the desperate nature of their position, Japanese troops came out of their underground position to fire on Marines from all sides. Pfc. Gill's Company F became totally cut off from the rest of the regiment and fought all day and night before other units rescued them. By that time it was too late for Pfc. Gill who was killed while surrounded by the enemy.

His remains were returned to be buried at Wright City Cemetery in Missouri. His wife never remarried. She died at age 63 in 1985 and is buried next to her husband.

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=94479371&ref=acom

Thank you Edward for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Edward.


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WW2 Fallen - Seeber Crawford, 101st Airborne at Bastogne

Sgt. Buck Crawford died on Christmas Day, 1944 defending Bastogne.
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=29266338&ref=acom

Seeber "Buck" Crawford never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

He was born on May 16, 1917 in Florida. His parents were also both born in Florida. His father was a farmer who died at age 41, a couple months before Seeber turned 10 years old. Seeber, who went by Buck, had one older brother, two older sisters, one younger sister and one younger brother. Buck's mother continued to work the family farm with her six children after her husband died. 

By 1940 Buck was working for a furniture company. He registered for the draft on October 16, 1940. He enlisted in the US Army on February 24, 1942. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant in Company A, 1st Battalion, 401st Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He arrived in England in September 1943. He participated in the predawn Normandy glider landings on D-Day and fought the Germans through the French hedgerows. In September he was landing again in a glider during the 101st Airborne's assignment in Operation Market Garden in Belgium. 

His last battle was the 101st Airborne's defense of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. His regiment was defending the west side of the line by December 19. Company A was set up at the extreme point of the west lines at Flamierge and received major attention from German units for two days.  By December 23, Sgt. Crawford's unit had retreated three miles, but did not let the Germans break through the lines. Sgt. Crawford spent Christmas Eve shivering in a foxhole east of Mande St-Etienne.

By 6 am on Christmas morning seven German Panzer MkIVs and three Stud IIIs attacked through the center of Company A and it's 77 men. Sgt. Crawford's men were overmatched and it took the leadership of the NCO's to keep the green troops among them from bolting. The American's used fog cover to hide or move before they were spotted by the German tanks. One of the privates in Company A was in a foxhole that was in the direct path of a tank. The tank destroyed his M1 and bazooka but kept going. Once the tanks were past, Company A moved back into position and was able to stop the German infantry following the tanks. Without the infantry support, the German tank attack was stopped. The Christmas morning action cost Company A four men. One of the fallen was Sgt. Crawford.

Just before leaving for Bastogne, Sgt. Crawford was able to write a letter to his mother. He said, "Dear Mom and all -- Not much to write. I'm O.K. and feeling fine, except homesick as usual. Don't have any idea how long I'll be over here or where I'll go before it's over. I'll be alright, though, wherever I am, so don't worry about me."

His remains were returned to be buried at Midway Cemetery, Lake Butler, Florida.

Thank you Buck for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Buck.


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!

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WW2 Fallen - Earl Charbonneau, KIA after just 2 days

Troops from 358th Infantry Regiment in Normandy hedgerows around the time Sgt. Charbonneau as killed.
http://www.ww2incolor.com/us-army/advance.html 

Earl L. Charbonneau never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

He was born on May 15, 1917 in Massachusetts. His mother was born in Vermont and his father was born in New York. All four grandparents were born in Canada. His father was a tin shop sheet metal worker and later a sheet metal mechanic. Earl had one older brother and one younger sister. By 1940 Earl had completed four years of high school, was still living at home with his parents, and had also gotten a job as a sheet metal worker. 

On January 16, 1941, Earl had left his sheet metal job and enlisted in the US Army from the National Guard. By 1944 he had been promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant and was serving in Company A, 358th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division (Nicknamed Tough 'Ombres).

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). Sgt. Charbonneau's unit was moved to the front lines one day later where the Germans were defending positions in the Normandy hedgerows. Sgt. Charbonneau's war did not last very long. He was killed in action on June 10, 1944, just two days after arriving in France . Although he was one of the first Tough 'Ombres killed, it was just the beginning -- 3,342 would be killed by the end of the war. Total 90th ID casualties were an astonishingly high 19,200 during World War 2.

His remains were returned to be buried at Notre Dame Cemetery, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Thank you Earl for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Earl.


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!

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