Missing information?

Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?

Submit

Personal info

Full name
FRETWELL, Thomas Edward Jr
Date of birth
24 January 1922
Age
22
Place of birth
Rockingham County, North Carolina
Hometown
Reidsville, Rockingham County, North Carolina

Military service

Service number
13065301
Rank
Sergeant
Function
Section Leader
Unit
A Company,
629th Tank Destroyer Battalion
Awards
Distinguished Service Cross,
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
16 September 1944
Place of death
In the vicinity of Weiswampach, Luxembourg

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Thomas E. Fretwell (father)
Mary E. (Sparks) Fretwell (mother)
Mildred S. (Fretwell) Hill (sister)
Zeb M. Fretwell (brother)
Jesse M. Fretwell (brother)
Mary C. (Fretwell) Hill (sister)
Curtis S. Fretwell (brother)
Betty Ann (Fretwell) Roberts (sister)
McGehee S. Fretwell (brother)
Eugene K. Fretwell (brother)

More information

Sgt Thomas E. Fretwell Jr. graduated from Reisville High School and was employed by the Ideal Food Store.

He volunteered for the Army of the United States in Richmond, Virginia on 7 July 1942.

He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross Medal posthumously for actions on 16 August 1944 in the vicinity of Harspelt, Germany. The citation reads: Abandoning his flaming tank destroyer after it received a direct hit by an enemy 88-mm. shell, Sgt Fretwell, upon observing that two companions did not escape, returned to the burning tank destroyer. Disdaining intense machine gun fire and with utter disregard for his own safety, he climbed upon the turret and was killed in a daring attempt to extricate the trapped crew members.

Source of information: André Koch, Raf Dyckmans, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - United States Obituary Collection / 1930 Census / U.S. Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947,
http://projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards

Photo source: André Koch, www.findagrave.com - SleepingDog