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Personal info

Full name
ZIRN, Richard H
Date of birth
27 March 1919
Age
25
Place of birth
Ohio
Hometown
Sandusky County, Ohio

Military service

Service number
35289235
Rank
Technician Fifth Grade
Function
unknown
Unit
HQ & HQ Company,
401st Glider Infantry Regiment,
101st Airborne Division
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
31 January 1945
Place of death
Drzewica, Poland

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Harold Zirn (father)
Mary (Jankoviak) Zirn (mother)
Norma J. Zirn (sister)
Victoria Zirn (wife)

More information

T/5 Richard H. Zirn enlisted on 23 March 1942 at Camp Perry, Ohio.

Information reveals that the German guards forced the American and Russian Prisoners of War to leave Stalag III-C near the village of Drzewica, Poland on 31 January 1945. They had marched only a short distance when they were caught between Russian and German cross fire and were killed by gunfire from Russian tanks.

He was officially declared dead one day and one year after the assumed date of his death.

T/5 Zirn is remembered at the Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.ww2-airborne.us, www.wwiimeorial.com, www.archives.gov, IDPF- Aloysious Mc Lean

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Peter Hendrikx, www.ancestry.com - Freemont-Ross High School yearbook 1935, The News Messenger 8 February 1946