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| Major Barle Avery served in the 84th Infantry Division. His brother Milton was a B-24 copilot. http://www.hamilton.nygenweb.net/military/AveryWW2.html |
Bartle Arthur "Bart" Avery never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on January 19, 1920 in Gloversville, New York. His parents Lyman and Phoebe (who lived to be 98) were also both born in New York. His father worked as a farmer and later as a summer resort proprietor. Still later he was a town supervisor. Bart had one older brother named Milton and one younger brother. It appears that during the 1930s his parents divorced. In high school he was captain of both the football and baseball team. Bart completed four years of college at the University of Alabama where he played football, basketball, and baseball.
Milton enrolled in the army in October 1941. He qualified as a heavy bomber pilot and ended up a B-24 co-pilot in the 757th Bombardment Squadron, 459th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force which was based in the Mediterranean Theater. It began flying missions in January 1944. During his time with the 757th BS, Milton was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
The mission target for July 4, 1944 was Genoa, Italy. Milton was doubling up on missions and had already passed 20. He was hoping that by finishing his required missions sooner, he could return home at an earlier date to see his wife and son. Milton was killed in action that day.
Bart married Ellen B. Daniel on November 12, 1943. Later that month he enlisted in the army. He rose to the rank of major in Company A, 335th Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry Division. The 84th ID arrived in Europe in November 1944. It first operated north of Aachen, where Bart earned the Silver Star (no citation found), and then fought in the Battle of the Bulge. While he was fighting in the Ardennes, his wife gave birth to a baby girl on Christmas Day.
After time in a rest camp, the 84th ID crossed the Rhine on April 1, 1945. Bart was a newly promoted major who was killed in action five days later on April 6, 1945.
Bart and Milton are buried at Ferndale Cemetery in Johnston, New York. Bart's widow remarried and died in 2013. I don't know what happened to Milton's widow.
Last year on this date I profiled Italy POW Clarence Rice, 1st Infantry Division. You can read about Clarence 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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