Memorial

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Charles Syer was a sales clerk.

He volunteered for the Army of the United States in Detroit, Michigan on 17 August 1942.

On 12 April A Company was on the left bank of the Rhine. At a briefing, the company was ordered to send a patrol to the village of Himmelgeist, on the other bank of the river, shortly after nightfall. Four men of A Company were killed by shell fire during this patrol, including Pfc Syer. Because the company had to retreat across the river, they had to leave their dead behind.

A few days later, a number of volunteers undertook another patrol in broad daylight to repatriate the bodies of their fallen comrades. They found that German citizens had buried all four of them in a common grave with the inscription: 'Hier ruhen 4 Amerik. Soldaten gef. 13.4.1945', which indicated that they had been buried a day after their death. The four bodies were exhumed and evacuated to the other bank.