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Personal info

Full name
DUMDEI, Edwin J
Date of birth
22 August 1922
Age
22
Place of birth
Bowdle, Edmunds County, South Dakota
Hometown
Bowdle, Edmunds County, South Dakota

Military service

Service number
37581574
Rank
Private
Function
Squad Leader
Unit
L Company,
3rd Battalion,
357th Infantry Regiment,
90th Infantry Division
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Died of Wounds
Date of death
11 September 1944
Place of death
Near Hayange, France

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
D 8 23

Immediate family

Members
John G. Dumdei (father)
Mary Dumdei (mother)
Irene Dumdei (sister)

More information

Pvt Edwin J. Dumdei attended Bowdle High School. He enlisted in Florida on 1 December 1943. He received his infantry training at Camp Landing, Florida.

He was first buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery in Andilly, France.

His parents received a letter from one of his closest friends, telling them about the details of his death:
“...I thought that you would like to know what happened. It is an unhappy subject to write about as he was my friend, pal and buddy, but it is the least that I can do for him and you.
We were on a wooded hill in Alsace Lorraine and they started to shell us. One of the shells exploded too close and he was hit underneath the heart. In a couple of minutes he passed out. We immediately loaded him on a stretcher and rushed him to the hospital then he passed away. We did everything that was possible for him, but it just had to be, I guess. He was one of the grandest fellows I ever knew and it must have been that the God above us wanted him.”

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1930/1940 Census

Photo source: http://military.sd.gov/sdwwiimemorial/SubPages/profiles/Display.asp?P=479