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| Pvt. Haskell Thrift served with the 4th Armored Division in France. https://www.armydivs.com/4th-armored-division/ https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11540655 |
Haskell Thrift, with a name that sounds like it comes from a Dickens novel, never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on September 8, 1917 in North Carolina. His parents Elza and Jessie were also both born in North Carolina. His father worked as a farm laborer and later as a farmer. Haskell had three younger brothers and four younger sisters. By 1940 he had completed two years of high school and was married to Pauline Hope with a three year old daughter. Another daughter born in 1942 died in infancy. Haskell worked as a farm hand.
He enlisted in the army on April 8, 1944, leaving behind a job as a skilled mechanic. He became a private in Company C, 10th Armored Infantry Battalion, 4th Armored Division. The 4th AD joined the fighting in Normandy in early July 1944. I don't know when Pvt. Thrift joined his unit, so I don't know where he began with the 4th AD during its subsequent actions from Brittany to Lorraine.
The 4th ID crossed the Saar River on November 22, It was while his unit was expanding the muddy bridgehead across the Saar that Pvt. Thrift was killed on November 30, 1944.
His grave is at Mountain Rest Cemetery in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. His widow remarried after his death. Both she and their daughter have passed on.
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. Now more than 200 fallen have been profiled with more than 200,000 visits. Is there interest in seeing a similar video highlighting those from the group of second 100?
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
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