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| T/5 Roman Tofel served with the 3rd Armored Division in the Hurtgen Forest. http://www.36air-ad.com/names/serial/36157610?fbclid=IwAR22ouBHZmM-qNDrpq7EdHdC20omCtsWbZ0STkPiFcXBm1NAHDOV71SIQpc https://www.pinterest.com/pin/538672805416696982/ |
Roman G. Tofel never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on July 3, 1919 in Michigan. His parents Adam and Eva were both born in what became Poland. His father worked as a foundry moulder. He died in 1931 from a heart condition. Roman had four older brothers and two older sisters. By 1940 Roman had completed one year of high school and was working as a laborer whiling living with his widowed mother.
Roman was drafted into the army on June 14, 1941. He became a tech 5 in Company I, 3rd Battalion, 36th Armored Infantry Battalion, 3rd Armored Division. The 3rd Armored, nicknamed "Spearhead", arrived in Normandy in late June 1944. It played an active role in Operation Cobra and reached the Seine River in late August. In September in was engaged in fighting in the Hurtgen Forest.
On September 21, 1944 the 3rd AD advanced to Stolberg, Germany, near the Siegfried Line. By this time the 3rd AD was running on nerves and mechanical ingenuity, having moved 700 miles from Normandy to Germany in a matter of weeks. Stolberg was more than the 3rd AD could handle and it was stopped after taking half of the town. Functioning tanks were down to 25% of full strength. T5 Tofel was killed in action the next day, September 22, 1944. It was just the start of a growing toll the Americans would pay to grind through the Hurtgen Forest over the next four months - the casualty rate would be one-in-four soldiers killed, wounded, missing, or captured.
His grave is at Holy Cross Cemetery in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Last year on this date I profiled Avenger torpedo bomber pilot Eldon Leach. You can read about Elden 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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