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Personal info

Full name
MC LEAN, William John
Date of birth
24 August 1919
Age
25
Place of birth
Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Hometown
Melrose, Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Military service

Service number
31462269
Rank
Private
Function
unknown
Unit
B Company,
1st Battalion,
505th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
82nd Airborne Division
Awards
Silver Star,
Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
30 April 1945
Place of death
Bleckede, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
P 15 9

Immediate family

Members
Clarence Mc Lean (father)
Elsa Mc Lean (mother)
Helen F. (Bourque) Mc Lean (wife)
William J. Mc Lean III (son)
John Mc Lean (son)
Robert Mc Lean (son)

More information

Pvt William J. McLean enlisted in Fort Devens, Massachusetts on 7 April 1944.
On April 30, 1945, in or near the German town of Bleckede, my father volunteered to be part of a patrol that tried to outflank an enemy machine gun position. The subsequent letter from the 505th's Chaplain states that there was no cover and that Dad advanced in the face of enemy fire and was killed instantly.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Guy Kreemers