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name
HENEISEN, Robert Vernon - Date of
birth
16 August 1921 -
Age
23 - Place of
birth
Evansville, Vanderburgh County, Indiana -
Hometown
Vanderburgh County, Indiana
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O1823298 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
unknown -
Unit
F Company,
2nd Battalion,
504th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
82nd Airborne Division
-
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
6 October 1944 - Place of
death
The field, south of the mill
Thornsche Molen, Persingen, the Netherlands
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| A | 26 | 16 |
Immediate family
-
Members
William D. Heneisen (father)
Lillian N. (Young) Heneisen (mother)
James C. Heneisen (brother)
Charles J. Heneisen (brother)
Fred W. Heneisen (brother)
Thomas C. Heneisen brother)
Anna D. Heneisen (sister)
Marion J. Heneisen (sister)
More information
2nd Lt Robert V. Heneisen graduated from Central High School and was an inspector.He joined the National Guard in Evansville, Indiana in September 1940 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. He was commissioned a second lieutenant after graduation at the Army Officer Candidate School at Camp Hood.
According to 504th historian and writer, Tyler Fox, 2nd Lt Heneisen was killed when he, "ran towards a German machine gun" near Thorensche Molen shortly before 2100 on 6 October. His platoon was forced to fall back and he was declared missing. 2nd Lt Heneisen and Pfc William K. Peirce's bodies were put into a shallow grave field near where they were killed by the Germans. Their remains were found by two farmers in 1947 and initially interred alongside each other at Ardennes Cemetery.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.ww2-airborne.us, http://aad.archives.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - Family Trees, www.bevrijdingsmuseum.nl, pg. 308-310 A Fine Sense of Honor: at war with the men of the 504th Parachute Infantry from Sicily to the fall of Germany by Tyler Fox
Photo source: Tjarco Schuurman, Evansville Press - 17 November 1944 - courtesy of Kathy McDermott