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| Lt. Jack Roark served in the 319th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division with these men during the Battle of the Bulge. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=62990893&ref=acom https://www.sofmag.com/day-g-turner-and-the-battle-of-am-astert/ |
Jack Mason Roark never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on August 8, 1917 in Texas. His parents were also both born in Texas. His father worked as a tailor and later as a furniture store assistant manager. Jack had one older sister. His mother died of cancer on the day after Christmas in 1939 at age 46. By 1940 Jack had completed three years of high school while living at home with his father and sister and working as a truck driver. It appears that he was married but I was not able to find out who his wife was.
He enlisted in the army on September 25, 1941, specifically the Philippines Department. It is unlikely that he would have reached the Philippines before the war started, but a newspaper article claims that he served 10 months in the South Pacific as an enlisted man before returning home to attend officer's training school. He became a first lieutenant in the 319th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division.
The 80th Infantry Division landed on Utah Beach in early August 1944 and became of favorite of General George Patton who time and again gave the 80th ID important assignments which included creating the Falaise Pocket. When the Germans launch their surprise winter offense, the 80th ID helped the 4th Armored Division to break through the Germans surrounding the 101st Airborne in Bastogne. Lt. Roark was taken out of action when a shell fragment penetrated his right lung on December 27, 1944. He was out of action for more than a month but the wound did not keep him from rejoining his unit.
On 7 February 1945, the division stormed across the Our and Sauer Rivers at Wallendorf (Eifel), with a mission to break through the Siegfried Line. Lieutenant Roark was killed in action on February 9, 1945.
His grave is at Restland Memorial Park in Dallas, Texas.
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
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
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