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Personal info

Full name
GOWER, William J
Date of birth
5 December 1918
Age
26
Place of birth
Mahanoy Plane, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania
Hometown
Tamaqua, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania

Military service

Service number
33482551
Rank
Private
Function
unknown
Unit
414th Infantry Regiment,
104th Infantry Division
Awards
Silver Star,
Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
9 April 1945
Place of death
In the vicinity of Gieselwerder, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
B 13 6

Immediate family

Members
John C. Gower (father)
Virginia L. (Brennan) Gower (mother)
Joseph J. Gower (brother)
Elizabeth L. Gower (sister)
Thomas J. Gower (brother)
Esther C. Gower (sister)
Myrl I. Gower (wife)

More information

Pvt William J. Gower enlisted in Allentown, Pennsylvania on 19 November 1942.

He was awarded the Silver Star posthumously for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy. The citation cited: When the tank on which he was riding suffered a direct hit from an enemy direct fire weapon, setting the tank afire and causing several casualties, Pvt Gower and a companion successfully evacuated two tank men. Despite the fact that he was himself wounded by enemy shell fire, Pvt Gower returned to rescue a third man from the veritable holocaust.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Wagner Family Tree / Pennsylvania Veteran Compensation Applications / WWII Enlistment Record / U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil

Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Des Philippet, www.newspapers.com - Republican and Herald 5 December 1945