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| Pfc. Julian Grant served with the 9th Armored Division at the Battle of Remagen. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/74183545/julian-s.-grant https://www.dw.com/en/world-war-ii-us-forces-capture-of-the-bridge-of-remagen-was-a-turning-point/a-18410746 |
Julian S. Grant never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on November 28, 1918 in Missouri. His parents Leroy and Bertha were also both born in Missouri. His father worked as a farmer. Julian had one younger sister. By 1940 Julian had completed one year of college, was living at with his parents, and was working as a farm laborer
He was drafted into the army on January 22, 1941. He became a private first class in Company A, 60th Armored Infantry Battalion, 9th Armored Division.
The 9th Armored Division did not see action until December 1944 when it was surprised to find itself in the middle of the Battle of Bulge, facing the enemy at St. Vith, and Bastogne and slowing the Germans until the 101st Airborne brought in fresh troops to hold Bastogne for good.
On March 7, 1945, the 9th AD found an intake bridge across the Rhine River at Remagen. It established a bridgehead on the east side and denied all enemy efforts to retake or destroy the Ludendorff Bridge.
On March 17, 1945 the bridge finally collapsed from relentless bombing and artillery damage. The Germans even used V2 rockets with no effect. By this time the Americans had built a pontoon and Bailey bridge across the Rhine. A number of American engineers died when the bridge collapsed. Pfc. Grant was also killed in action that day. I was not able to determine the circumstances nor what led to Pfc. Grant earning the Bronze Star.
His grave is at Memorial Park Cemetery in Columbia, Missouri.
Last year on this date I profiled D-Day fallen Roland Ehlers and his Medal of Honor hero brother Walter. You can read about Roland 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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