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| Cpl. Frank Ruch was an artillery linesman in the 35th Infantry Division. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=90769298&ref=acom https://www.pinterest.com/pin/167125836151766500/ |
Frank G. Ruch never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on July 8, 1917 in Nebraska. His parents were also both born in Nebraska. His father's parents were from Germany His father worked as a farmer for a time, but later got a job as a laborer. Frank had an older sister, a younger sister, and three younger brothers. Frank completed one year of high school. By 1940 Frank was married and living with his wife Lucile while employed as a laborer.
He enlisted in the army on December 23, 1940 and was assigned to the field artillery. He became a corporal in the 127th Field Artillery Battalion. This unit used 155mm guns and was part of the 35th Infantry Division. It landed on Omaha Beach a month after D-Day.
No doubt his family marked his twenty-seventh birthday on July 8, 1944 hoping Frank would be home by his next birthday. Tragically, Cpl. Ruch's father died the very next day. He was only 54 years old. It is doubtful that this news reached Cpl. Ruch. On July 11, the 35th Infantry Division moved into the line in the vicinity of St. Lo where it had to deal with one German counter attack after another. Cpl. Ruch's job was to run telephone lines between observers, who would spot enemy targets, and the 155mm batteries in support. It was while he was carrying out these duties on July 12, 1944 that he was killed in action.
His grave is at Steele Cemetery, Fall City, Nebraska. He left behind two sons and a daughter. I don't know what became of his widow.
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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY
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