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Personal info

Full name
ROWLEY, Fitch Hartford
Date of birth
3 March 1925
Age
19
Place of birth
Manhattan, New York City, New York
Hometown
Reno, Washoe County, Nevada

Military service

Service number
20954776
Rank
Corporal
Function
unknown
Unit
A Battery,
456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion,
82nd Airborne Division
Awards
Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
21 September 1944
Place of death
Riethorst, Holland

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
J 20 12

Immediate family

Members
Fitch H. Rowley (father)
Gladys (Belknap) Rowley (mother)
Richard B. Rowley (brother)

More information

Cpl Fitch H. Rowley attended the Reno High School, where he participated in many school activities and he was popular and well known in Reno. He was a junior rodeo star there.

He participated in the D-Day landings and subsequent battles as a member of his unit.

Cpl Rowley reported wounded in action on 1 July 1944 by shrapnel. A small piece of shrapnel struck him, but he wasnt hurt much, commenting: "As long as they keep hitting me on the head, it will be all right". He returned to England for a short leave but soon returned to active duty.

Source of information: Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.marketgarden.com, www.ancestry.com - New York, New York Birth Index, Nevada State Journal 6 - 15 August 1944 / 10 October 1944 / The Fredrick Post 21 November 1943 / Reno Evening Gazette - 9 October 1944

Photo source: www.ancestry.com, Nevada State Journal - 10 October 1944, www.findagrave.com - Des Philippet