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name
MC LAUGHLIN, John W - Date of
birth
1910 -
Age
unknown - Place of
birth
unknown -
Hometown
Manhattan, New York County, New York
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
32115959 -
Rank
Private -
Function
unknown -
Unit
B Company,
1st Battalion,
504th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
82nd Airborne Division,
1st Platoon
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
3 February 1945 - Place of
death
Mertesrott Heights, Frauenrath, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| G | 10 | 37 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Patrick Mc Laughlin (brother)
James V. Mc Laughlin (brother)
Alice Mc Laughlin (sister)
Joan Mc Laughlin (sister)
More information
Pvt John W. Mc Laughlin enlisted in Jamaica, New York on 24 April 1941.That morning was foggy and overcast as Pvt Bill Bonning was on patrol with four other men. Bonning was carrying a BAR and the new replacement Pvt John W Mc Laughlin, whom he didn't know, was up ahead carrying another BAR. Bonning was unable to see Mc Laughlin in the thick fog. "We are moving slowly and Amendola is behind me. On the snow was [an empty BAR] magazine and then you would ear a burst of fire from a BAR, you would recognize it right away. We'd be moving slowly and there would be another magazine. I said 'Man this is a good BAR man'.
And then I see an image ahead of me and here's the BAR man. He's partially kneeling and partially standing and he's got a bullet right through the helmet, right through the forehead, killed instantly. Mc Laughlin had been killed by a sniper.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, WW2-Airborne.us, NARA, WW2memorial, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record, http://www.svaao.nl - mustang44, IDPF
Photo source: Tjarco Schuurman