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| PFC Raymond Earnest served with the 9th Infantry Division in North Africa. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/140572381/raymond-earnest https://9thinfantrydivision.net/battle-history/tunisia-battle/ |
Raymond Earnest never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on April 21, 1919 in New Jersey. His parents Washington and Laura were also both born in New Jersey. His father worked as a state road laborer and later as an oyster fisherman. Still later he worked as a planter. Raymond had one older brother and one younger sister. By 1940 Raymond had completed six years of education and was still living at home.
He was drafted into the army on January 10, 1941. He became a private first class in Company M, 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division. The 9th ID was one of the first American units to see action in WW2. It fought the French in Algiers in November 1942. A hometown newspaper dated February 24, 1942 reported that PFC Earnest had been awarded the Silver Star. If this is accurate, it would have been for fighting the French. While its artillery was engaged with the Germans on February 17, 1943, the rest of the unit did not see action against the Germans until March 28 when it participated in the Battle of El Guettar through April 3. It was the first victory for the Americans against German forces and the first battle for General Patton (the battle is portrayed in the 1970 movie Patton).
PFC Earnest died on April 8, 1943, either from wounds sustained during the Battle of El Guettar or fighting as his unit moved north.
For many years, on the anniversary of his death, friends and family published memorial poems about Raymond in the Millville Daily newspaper. Here is the one from 1945:
A gold star on flaming red,
Is a small reward for the blood shed.
But we who walk now in his stead
Must keep the peace for which he bled.
They gave us a gold star and medals he won,
But gold stars and medals fall short of our dear son.
The fight is ours now, his job is done,
The victory is ours, that he and others won.
The memory of our dear Raymond and other sons,
Form a monument of peace to everyone.
We did not think it fair,
But God alone knew best.
So sadly missed by his
MOTHER, DAD, SISTER
His grave is at Methodist Cemetery in Leesburg, New Jersey.
Last year on this date I profiled PV-1 Ventura copilot Kevin Ahern. You can read about Kevin 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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