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name
LANE, Rufus Edward "Tootsie" - Date of
birth
13 December 1924 -
Age
19 - Place of
birth
Cross County, Arkansas -
Hometown
Poinsett County, Arkansas
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
38517818 -
Rank
Private First Class -
Function
unknown -
Unit
B Company,
1st Battalion,
115th Infantry Regiment,
29th Infantry Division
-
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
4 October 1944 - Place of
death
In the vicinity of Hatterath, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Lonnie A. Lane (father)
Bertha B. (Robinson) Lane (mother)
Hazel J. Lane (sister)
Rudolph A. Lane (brother)
Thelma J. Lane (sister)
Caroll Lane (brother)
Reba Lane (sister)
Carolyn Lane (sister)
More information
Pfc Rufus Lane joined his unit on 22 June 1944. He was lightly wounded on 15 July and was promoted to Private First Class on 1 October 1944.Pvt Lane’s unit was assigned the mission of capturing woods in the vicinity of Hatterath, Germany. They came under heavy attack and had to withdraw from the area. When they had reorganized, Lane was, along with many other men, missing.
In 1946, his parents received a letter from the War Department that said that even though no body had been found, for all practical purposes, he had been killed in action, and an official verdict was issued. Fellow soldier witnesses confirmed that he had been too badly wounded to have survived, or to have been captured. In 1950, the family received another letter that his name did not appear in German records either. At that time he was officially declared Killed in Action. His parents were sent a Purple Heart.
A bronze marker was placed in the cemetery where his parents were later buried.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Jeri L. Baker, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Family Tree
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Jeri L. Baker