 |
| Pvt. James Cruise served in the 80th Infantry Division. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90923315/james-lloyd-cruise/photo http://abmc.nomadmobileguides.com/Normandy.php?page=narrative&id=cont-894 |
James Lloyd Cruise never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Announcement: In just a few days we will be starting a project that will result in the stories of all 400,000 plus of the World War 2 fallen at one online location. There will be an accompanying smart phone app to allow users visiting any war memorial to scan the fallen serviceman's name and be linked to his story. Watch this blog or join the WW2 Fallen 100 Facebook page to learn of upcoming details.
James was born on January 30, 1920 in Carroll, Virginia. His parents Wiley and Minnie were also both born in Virginia. His father worked as a farmer. He died of a heart attack in 1934. James had four older brothers, three older sisters, one younger sister, and two younger brothers. He married Clara Elizabeth Gates in March 1939. They had three sons, one of whom died when less than one month old.
He was drafted into the army in March 1944. He became a private in Company I, 3rd Battalion, 318th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division (Nicknamed "Blue Ridge Division"). The 80th ID arrived in France in August 1944. It first saw action at Argentan in late August and raced across France to the river Sielle. By November it had advanced almost to Saarbrucken. Pvt. Cruise probably joined his unit as a replacement somewhere along the line. The 80th ID was in constant need for replacement -- it lost more than 17,000 men during the war.
Pvt. Cruise was killed in action on November 8, 1944, the day the 80th ID started its attack into the Saar Basin.
His grave is at Oakdale Cemetery in Mount Airy Cemetery. His widow remarried and died in 2006. One son died in 2011.
CARWOOD LIPTON / DELBERT MANN
Two men people may recognize from television were born on the same day as James Cruise. Carwood Lipton was born in West Virginia. Delbert Mann was born in Kansas.
Lipton was a 101st Airborne, 506th PIR lieutenant who was in Company E, made famous by the HBO mini-series Band of Brothers where he was portrayed by Donnie Wahlberg. After the war he became an engineer and worked in various industries. He died in 2001.
 |
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carwood_Lipton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delbert_Mann |
Last year on this date I profiled P-38 pilot Kenneth "Chase" Blum. You can read about Kenneth 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
No comments:
Post a Comment