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Personal info

Full name
HENSCHLER, Edward Vernon
Date of birth
10 March 1917
Age
27
Place of birth
Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois
Hometown
Cook County, Illinois

Military service

Service number
36039159
Rank
Private First Class
Function
unknown
Unit
C Company,
307th Airborne Engineer Battalion,
82nd Airborne Division
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
20 September 1944
Place of death
Nijmegen, the Netherlands

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
F 4 7

Immediate family

Members
Ewald B. Henschler (father)
Valeska W. (Dost) Henschler (mother)
Franklin B. Henschler (brother)
Raymond E. Henschler (brother)
Edna Henschler (sister)
Marguerite S. L. Henschler (sister)

More information

Pfc Edward V. Henschler left home at 17 to see the world. Working his way on merchant ships he travelled to Japan, China, India, Fiji Islands and many other countries.

He arrived back home just too late for his mother's funeral, when she and his aunt were killed by the Illinois Central on 15 August 1940.

He enlisted in Chicago, Illinois on 6 June 1941. He was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky with the Armored Corps and finally served as an Instructor with a Sergeant's rate. He volunteered for the paratroops before they were actually activated and was demoted to private.

He was already a member of his unit when it fought in Sicily and Italy.

Pfc Henschler was killed during the Waal River crossing and was initially buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery of Molenhoek, the Neterlands.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.307th.org, www.ancestry.com - Family Trees / Cook County, Illinois Marriage Index, www.findagrave.com, www.newspaperarchive.com - Blue Island Sun Standard, www.bevrijdingsmuseum.nl, www.sunsetmarch.nl

Photo source: www.307th.org, www.ancestry.com, www.newspaperarchive.com - Blue Island Sun Standard