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name
WESP, Robert Erwin - Date of
birth
9 December 1920 -
Age
23 - Place of
birth
Melrose, Stearns County, Minnesota -
Hometown
St. Cloud, Stearns County, Minnesota
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
17025383 -
Rank
Private -
Function
unknown -
Unit
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
101st Airborne Division
-
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
6 October 1944 - Place of
death
Opheusden, The Netherlands
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
William E. Wesp (father)
Helen M. (Verkennes) Wesp (mother)
Myrtle P. Wesp (wife)
More information
Pvt Robert E. Wesp enlisted in Fort Snelling, Minnestota on 26 March 1941. He served 15 months overseas in Newfoundland.Following his return to the States, he applied for a transfer to a paratrooper unit and received his training at Fort Benning, Georgia.
In the available records of his unit, Pvt. Wesp is not mentioned in the listings of the men who landed in Normandy, so it is very likely that he was a replacement and joined his unit just prior to the Operation Market-Garden.
The After Action Report of the 506th PIR mentions actions of only H and G Company on 6 October, so it can be assumed that Pvt. Wesp was part of one of those companies.
Pvt Wesp was the father a two year old son.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ww2-airborne.us, www.ancestry.com - 1940 Census / Minnesota Birth Index, www.newspapers.com - St. Cloud Times
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.newspapers.com - St. Cloud Daily Times - 31 October 1944