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name
MAY, John Earl "Jack" - Date of
birth
10 January 1924 -
Age
20 - Place of
birth
Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania -
Hometown
Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O1060876 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
unknown -
Unit
B Company,
1st Battalion,
407th Infantry Regiment,
102nd Infantry Division
-
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
17 December 1944 - Place of
death
Roerdorf, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Louis A. May (father)
Emma M. (Englert) May (mother)
Evelyn M. May (sister)
Earl L. May (brother)
Erleen May (sister)
Doris May (sister)
Catherine May (sister)
Loma May (sister)
More information
2nd Lt John E. May enlisted in Erie, Pennsylvania on 11 February 1943.Story told by Lizz Allen, GoErie.com:
"Jack, the oldest of Louis and Emma Englert May's five children, was slated to be valedictorian of Cathedral Preparatory School's class of 1943. As the top student, he would receive a black sweater with an orange "P" at graduation. But Jack got drafted and couldn't attend graduation. Recognizing his intelligence, the Army sent him to Officer Training School. By age 19, he was a commissioned second Lieutenant, building a bridge across the Rur River in the town of Roerdorf in the Netherlands, according to Herb's genealogy research. On the night of Dec. 17, 1944, Jack and his team, skin blackened and in camouflage, set out in a small boat heading for the Germans' side. When they landed, German machine-gun fire broke out from a barn, killing Jack and his team. The bodies were swept away in the fast river current and were never found."
Source of information: André Koch, Dhr. A.N. Regtop, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - 1930/1940 Census / Beard-Wilcox Family Tree, IDPF
Photo source: André Koch, Clinton Norby, www.ancestry.com - Cathedral Preparatory School Yearbook 1944