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| Cpl. Raphael Blaske served with the 1st Armored Division in North Africa. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/142938040/raphael-a-blaske https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/tank-battle-in-happy-valley-1st-armored-division-in-the-run-for-tunis/ |
Raphael Blaske never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on April 8, 1919 in Manistee, Michigan. His parents John and Josephine were also both born in Michigan. All of his grandparents were from Poland. His father worked as a lumber mill edger and later as a furniture factory machine operator. He died in 1934 of chronic nephritis. Raphael had two older sisters, two older brothers, and two younger brothers. By 1940 Raphael had completed one year of high school and worked as a sales clerk. He was living with his widowed mother and three of his brothers.
He was drafted into the army in February 1940. He became a Tec5 in Troop B, 81st Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Armored Division. Cpl. Blaske was killed in action on February 2, 1943. There were no major engagements that day, but as part of a recon team, he would have been probing enemy positions in advance of the main 1st Armored units.
His grave is at Restlawn Cemetery in Muskegon, Michigan.
Last year on this date I profiled P-47 pilot Douglas Jacks. You can read about Douglas 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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