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Personal info

Full name
COLE, Rodney Caldwell
Date of birth
22 August 1921
Age
23
Place of birth
Howard City, Montcalm County, Michigan
Hometown
Wayland, Allegan County, Michigan

Military service

Service number
36412066
Rank
Private First Class
Function
unknown
Unit
G Company,
3rd Battalion,
325th Glider Infantry Regiment,
82nd Airborne Division
Awards
Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
3 January 1945
Place of death
Belgium

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
Plot Row Grave
F 7 71

Immediate family

Members
Elias H. Cole (father)
Beatrice C. (Caldwell) Cole (mother)
Gordon E. Cole (brother)

More information

Pfc Rodney C. Cole graduated from Wayland High School in 1939 where he served as class president.

He enlisted in Kalamazoo, Michigan on 25 November 1942 and worked as a baker in his father's bakery.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - WWII Enlistment Record / 1930 Census, www.ww2-airborne.us, Kalamazoo Gazette - 28 May 1939, Susan Linton

Photo source: Danny van der Groen, 1939 Wayland High School Yearbook -Then and Now Historical Library in Dorr, Michigan