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| Cpl. Harvey Henle, picture here with wife Elide, served with the 82nd Airborne in Normandy. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21409967/harvey-harold-henle 82nd Airborne: Normandy 1944 by Simon Forty page 59. |
Harvey H. Henle never had a chance to reach 100 years old. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
I began this project on January 1, 2017. It will conclude on September 2, 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War 2. During the intervening time, a different fallen serviceman was profiled every day on his 100th birthday. I have decided to round out the project by profiling one of the fallen born between December 7, 1916 and December 31, 1916. This will result in one of the fallen being profiled for every day America was engaged in World War 2. The total will be 1,367 men and women. That's enough for only 13 stars out of the 4,048 on the Freedom Wall of the World War II Memorial.
Harvey was born on December 11, 1916 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. His parents Joseph and Eva were both born in Iowa. His parental grandparents were from Germany and his mom's father was from England. His father worked as a sash and door factory laborer. Harvey had an older brother and two younger sisters. By 1940 Harvey had completed four years of high school. He was still living with his parents and worked as a meat packer laborer. Henry married Elide M. Anderson on December 6, 1941 and the next day their planned future was forever altered by the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Harvey was drafted into the army in March 1942. He decided to volunteer to serve as a paratrooper. He eventually became a corporal in Company I, 3rd Battalion, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. His unit was sent to England in December 1943. The 507th PIR replaced the 504th PIR that had taken heavy casualties in Italy. It was selected to take part in the predawn D-Day airdrop to keep the Germans from reaching the beaches.
In the early hours of June 6, 1944, as the transport planes reach Normandy, German flak diverted the planes off of their planned course. The 3rd Battalion paratroopers fell up to 15 miles off target, the worst of all the drops that day. Cpl. Henle died on June 7, 1944. According to a fellow soldier, after some heavy fighting, he sat down behind a rock to smoke a cigarette and was instantly killed by shot from an enemy rifleman.
His grave is at Saint Michael's Cemetery in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. His widow remarried and died in 2013.
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
This Hero should be honored for his fight to defend ,protect our Nation neve r to be forgotten , He served with pride , loyalty , honor and bravely fought against the worse country Germany . He is in God's Army of Hero Angels resting in peace evermore . I Salute You Sir my heart , prayers are with his remaining family , loved ones , friends . God Bless Sincerely Christine
ReplyDeleteHarvey was my great uncle. We had heard many stories over the years, but it feels good to finally know what really happened...thank you for this.
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