 |
| Pvt. William Hartzler served in the 82nd Airborne Division in Italy. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/40044479/william-r_-hartzler https://www.ww2-airborne.us/units/307/307.html |
William Ren Hartzler never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on March 16, 1920 in Indiana. His parents Herman and Ethel were also both born in Indiana. His father worked as a farmer and later as an odd jobs laborer. Still later he ran a landscaping business. William had one older brother, one older sister, two younger brothers, and one younger sister. By 1940 William was still living at home and had completed three years of high school. He had a job working at the school.
He was drafted into the army in September 1942. He volunteered for paratrooper training and became a private in Company B, 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division. The 307th AEB first saw action when it was dropped into Sicily in July 1943. It next saw action in Salerno in September.
After nearly a month on the front lines, the 82nd Airborne was relieved on October 7. On October 10, 1943 Pvt. Hartzler's company was billeted at the Prince of Piedmont Artillery Barracks in Naples, Italy. The 307th AEB website (currently inactive) reports that the barracks exploded; killing 23 men and wounding another 21. Pvt. Hartzler was one of those killed. His father died of a heart attack two months later. The cause of the explosion was never determined.
William's grave is at East Hill Cemetery in Rushville, Indiana.
Last year on this date I profiled Iwo Jima fallen and Navy Cross hero Thor Thorstenson, 5th Marine Division. You can read about Thor 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
23 were killed, not 18 and 21 wounded not 56. Figures this is from Greatest Generation. They are nothing but mistakes made.
ReplyDelete