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name
SNOAD, Russell Newman - Date of
birth
11 March 1917 -
Age
27 - Place of
birth
Beverly, Essex County, Massachusetts -
Hometown
Beverly, Essex County, Massachusetts
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
31018801 -
Rank
Technical Sergeant -
Function
unknown -
Unit
E Company,
2nd Battalion,
120th Infantry Regiment,
30th Infantry Division
-
Awards
Distinguished Service Cross,
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
25 December 1944 - Place of
death
Petit Coo, Belgium
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| B | 5 | 36 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Albert Snoad (father)
Alice F. (Newman) Snoad (mother)
More information
T/Sgt Russell N. Snoad graduated from Beverly High School in 1935.He enlisted in Boston, Massachusetts on 3 March 1941.
He was awarded the Bonze Star Medal for meritorious conduct in France after he and a group of his comrades volunteered to enter enemy territory to recover badly needed supplies which had been dropped by American planes behind enemy lines, he led this "Lost Battalion" back to their own lines after six days without food or water.
He was posthumously awarded a Distinguished Service Cross for his heroic action at Petit Coo, close by Stavelot on 23 December 1944. S/Sgt Paul Bolden and T/Sgt Russell N. Snoad decided to attack a house from which the Germans were firing. While his companion fired to cover him, Bolden rushed the door, tossed in a pair of hand grenades, then went in firing his Tommy gun. Bolden killed twenty of the enemy, then withdrew. A blast of fire killed T/Sgt Snoad and wounded S/Sgt Bolden, but he dashed back into the house, killing fifteen more of the enemy. (Bolden later received the Medal of Honor).
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - 1940 Census, www.history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/ww2list.html, www.oldhickory30th.com, www.30thinfantry.org, WWII Draft Cards, The Boston Globe - 10 January 1945
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Des Philippet