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Personal info

Full name
PARSONS, James Samuel
Date of birth
13 April 1924
Age
20
Place of birth
Lincoln, Benton County, Missouri
Hometown
Missouri

Military service

Service number
37608565
Rank
Private First Class
Function
Assistant Machine Gunner
Unit
G Company,
3rd Battalion,
327th Glider Infantry Regiment,
101st Airborne Division
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Missing in Action
Date of death
20 December 1944
Place of death
Marvie, Belgium

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Tablets of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
John R. Parsons (father)
Mary E. Parsons (mother)
Darline Parsons (sister)
Margie Parsons (sister)

More information

Pfc James S. Parsons was wounded in action in the Netherlands 30 September 1944 for which he was awarded the Purple Heart Medal a first time.

On 20 December 1944, Three men from G Company were assigned to outpost duty and set up their light machine gun in a hedgerow about 400 yards from the town of Marvie, Belgium. They were attacked by German infantry supported by tanks and halftracks, and after putting up a strong defense were overrun.
Eyewitnesses saw a German tank drive over the position occupied by Pfc Parsons, Pfc Lemuel R. Campbell and Sgt Theophilus G. Sandercock. Parsons was last seen only six feet from the charging German tank.The German attack was eventually repulsed and a search made of the area. A wrecked machine gun and several helmets were found in the area, but no identifiable remains of Sandercock, Campbell, or Parsons.
Their comrades hoped the three men might have been captured, but none were ever reported as prisoners of war.
Pfc James S. Parsons is remembered at New Galilee Cemetery in Troy, Lincoln County, Missouri with a memorial marker.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.ww2-airborne.us, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, WWII Draft Card, 1930 US Census

Photo source: Jac Engels, Peter Schouteten, www.findagrave.com