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Personal info

Full name
HODGEBOOM, Richard Wayne
Date of birth
9 February 1920
Age
24
Place of birth
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan
Hometown
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan

Military service

Service number
36541369
Rank
Sergeant
Function
unknown
Unit
61st Armored Infantry Battalion,
10th Armored Division
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
24 December 1944
Place of death
5 miles off the coast of Cherbourg, northern France

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
E 17 27

Immediate family

Members
Bert Hodgeboom (father)
Fleda M. (Stears) Hodgeboom (mother)
Dorothy E. (Wood) Hodgeboom (wife)
Sandra L. Hodgeboom (daughter)

More information

Sgt Richard W. Hodgeboom was employed at the R.L. Polk & Company as a multicolor operator before he enlisted.

On Christmas Eve in 1944, he was aboard the Leopoldville crossing the English Channel to support the Battle of the Bulge when his transport ship was struck by a German torpedo and sunk off the coast of northern France. He perished along with over 800 other men, many dying of hyperthermia from the icy waters.

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

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Kathy McDermott, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men / Ohio County Marriage Records / Public Member Story's - Kim White, www.findagrave.com
Photo source: www.findagrave.com, Detroit Evening Times - 31 January 1945