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Personal info

Full name
PETERSEN, Edward Lewis
Date of birth
1 July 1916
Age
28
Place of birth
Saint-Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota
Hometown
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota

Military service

Service number
37167860
Rank
Technician Fourth Grade
Function
unknown
Unit
H Company,
2nd Battalion,
66th Armored Regiment,
2nd Armored Division
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
3 January 1945
Place of death
Rue de l'Isbelle
Erezée, Belgium

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
Plot Row Grave
C 13 31

Immediate family

Members
Gustave H. Petersen (father)
Hazel E. (Burns) Petersen (mother)
George H. Petersen (brother)
Lucille H. Petersen (sister)
Lawrence Petersen (brother)

More information

T/4 Petersen was part of a tank crew. The Sherman tank, commanded by Lt George C. Connealy, had been inching its way down the road when it skidded on the hard-packed ice and snow off the edge of the winding road. Upon doing so, it struck a daisy chain of mines that detonated simultaneously blowing the tank turret clear across the road, killing the entire crew and the GI's of the 84th Infantry Division who had been hitch-hiking on the tank. This tragedy is remembered with a monument at the place of the incident.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans, Carla Mans, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men / Burns Family Tree

Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Des Philippet, Erwin Verholen, Yearbook Central High School, 1938, St.Paul - courtesey of Antoine Nouens