WW2 Normandy Fallen - Medic Hubert McKelvey, 29th Infantry Division

Pvt. Hubert McKelvey served as a medic with the 29th Infantry Division on Omaha Beach and in Normandy.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/99465343/hubert-wall-mckelvey

https://history.army.mil/html/reference/Normandy/TS/MD/MD7.htm

Hubert Walls McKelvey never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

 

If you have enjoyed reading the stories of the WWII fallen, Can you help write some stories? It's a big project. The more help, the better.  Announcing "The Stories Behind the Stars", see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org. This crowd-sourced national project has the goal of compiling stories of all 400,000+ of the US World War II fallen in one free-to-access central database. We are going to need a lot of volunteers. Anyone visiting a war memorial or gravesite will be able to scan the name of the fallen with a smartphone and his story will appear on the phone.

 

Hubert was born on July 19, 1920 in Grant, Alabama. His parents Thomas and Ruby were both born in Alabama. His father worked as a farmer and passed away in 1927. His mother remarried in 1939. Hubert had one older brother, one older sister, and a twin brother. He married the former Marjorie Lucille Parker on 5 January 1940 in Madison County, Alabama and they were living in Huntsville at the time of the 1940 census. He and his twin brother Herbert registered for the draft together on 16 February 1942.

 

Hubert was inducted into the Army on 4 January 1943 and served as a Private in Company B of the 104th Medical Battalion, 29th Infantry Division. The 29th Infantry Division arrived in England in September 1942. While other units were sent to fight in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, the 29th ID stayed in England, training for 21 months and then being selected to be the first to land on Omaha Beach on D-Day.

 

On 6 June 1944, Company B was attached to the 116th Infantry Regiment, which was in the first assault wave to hit Omaha beach in Normandy. Members of the 104th began arriving on Omaha beach two hours later as a group of litter bearers landed and gave first aid to the men on the beach and evacuated them to a point above the high water mark. Throughout the day, more men of Company B landed on the beach even though it was under a heavy concentration of enemy artillery, mortar and small arms fire. The 104th transported the wounded to an Aid Station on the beach, which provided first aid, plasma, and prepped them for evacuation off the beach in small boats. 

 

Over the next days and weeks, the 104th accompanied the 116th Infantry as they moved inland, continuing to provide aid to the wounded and evacuation of casualties to the rear. Pvt McKelvey’s wife and mother were notified in July that he was missing in action, and in August received the tragic word that he had been killed on 2 July 1944. I could not find any details on the circumstances of his death.

 

Hubert Walls McKelvey was initially buried in France and was reinterred in Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama in November 1948. In addition to his wife Marjorie, he left behind two young daughters and a son. His widow remarried and passed away in 2004. Hubert’s twin brother Herbert also served in the Army and survived the war.

 

Thank you Pvt. McKelvey for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Hubert.

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This profile was written by Bob Fuerst. "I’m a NASA engineer, B-17 Flying Fortress enthusiast, and amateur genealogist so this kind of research is an ideal outlet for me. But more than anything, it’s a way to express my sincere appreciation for The Greatest Generation and the sacrifices that they made, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They should never be forgotten and I’m grateful to Don for allowing me to play a small part in honoring them." 

Last year on this date I profiled William Obuchowski of the 4th Infantry Division. You can read about William here.

This is one of the final 50 stories (46) to be written as part of this project which ends on September 2, 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. At that time more than 1,370 men and women will have been profiled. The project will live on in an expanded program to write the stories of all 400,000+ US World War II fallen. Visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org to learn more. We welcome your continued support and interest and encourage you to help write some of these stories.

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.

 

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“Where Every Day is Memorial Day”

http://www.tggf.org