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Personal info

Full name
SPEARS, William M Jr
Date of birth
1921
Age
unknown
Place of birth
New York
Hometown
Shaker Heights, Cuyahoga County, Ohio

Military service

Service number
O-462026
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
unknown
Unit
47th Infantry Regiment,
9th Infantry Division
Awards
Silver Star,
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
5 April 1943
Place of death
Tunisia

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
C 8 5

Immediate family

Members
William M. Spears (father)
Portia R. Spears (mother)

More information

2nd Lt William M. Spears Jr. was a former school football star at Shaker Heights High School. He graduated in 1938 and was also a 1942 graduate of Lehigh University. He was the only son of his parents. Lt Spears was killed in a plane crash.

He was first buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery in Tunis, Tunisia.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Kathy McDermott, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil / 1940 Census, http://9thinfantrydivision.net, Cleveland Plain Dealer - 13 May 1943

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Bjorn Meeuwsen via Jayne Broestl, Lehigh University 1942 Epitome Yearbook