Gerald H. Winter never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Gerald was born on May 15, 1920 in Iowa. His parents Alois and Mary were also both born in Iowa. All of his grandparents were born in Germany. His father worked as a farmer. Gerald had a young brother and sister. Gerald married at some point. His wife's name was Ann and they had one son named after his father.
He was drafted into the army in October 1942. He became a private first class in Company B, 1st Battalion, 361st Infantry Regiment, 91st Infantry Division (nicknamed "Wild West Division"). The 91st ID was sent to Italy in June 1944.
By June 3 the 361st IR was in action south of Rome. On July 2, 1944 PFC Winter was killed in action when his regiment attacked and seized Mozzala.
His grave is at Saint Clements Cemetery in Bankston, Iowa. I don't know what happened to his widow or son.
Last year on this date I profiled Distinguished Service Cross D-Day hero Gerald Henderson, 1st Infantry Division. You can read about Gerald 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
Gerald Winter was my uncle, though I never met him. The younger brother mentioned above was my father. Gerald actually had two children, not one, Jerry and Bob. Bob, the younger son, hadn't been born yet when his father was killed. Both sons served in Vietnam and are still alive as of today. His widow remarried and lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, until her death.
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