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Personal info

Full name
PRESCOTT, William Rider
Date of birth
9 July 1922
Age
22
Place of birth
Newton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Hometown
Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Military service

Service number
11099265
Rank
Private First Class
Function
Squad Leader
Unit
C Company,
307th Airborne Engineer Battalion,
82nd Airborne Division
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
1 May 1945
Place of death
Bleckede, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
E 9 6

Immediate family

Members
Albert G. Prescott (father)
Emily R. Prescott (mother)
Oliver R. Prescott (brother)
Margery Prescott (sister)
Donald R. Prescott (brother)

More information

Pfc William R. Prescott graduated from Newton High School and attended Northeastern University. He was employed by the City of Newton Engineering Department.

He joined the U.S. Army Reserve in Boston, Massachusetts on 17 September 1942 and was selected for the ASTP training for which he was sent to the University of Cincinnati. He was sent overseas on 1 June 1944. He joined his unit on 20 December 1944.

Pfc Prescott was killed while helping to repair the main supply route on the beachhead of the Elbe River near Bleckede, Germany. He and two men of his platoon were investigating a crater when a mine exploded, killing all three.

Source of information: Terry Hirsch, www.abmc.gov, www.307th.org, www.ancestry.com - 1930 Census / Headstone and Interment Record

Photo source:
www.307th.org, William R. Prescott