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Personal info

Full name
SEARLE, Roy J
Date of birth
25 February 1922
Age
22
Place of birth
Esmond, Providence County, Island
Hometown
Esmond, Providence County, Rhode Island

Military service

Service number
31182989
Rank
Private First Class
Function
unknown
Unit
D Company,
1st Battalion,
357th Infantry Regiment,
90th Infantry Division
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Died of Wounds
Date of death
9 December 1944
Place of death
In the vicinity of Rehlingen, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Tablets of the Missing
* This soldier has been accounted for. A rosette has been placed next to his name.

Immediate family

Members
Harvey D. Searle (father)
Mabel M. Searle (mother)
Raymond Searle (twin brother)

More information

Pfc Roy J. Searle attended high school for three years and was a textile weaver at the Esmond Mill.

He enlisted in Providence, Rhode Island on 17 October 1942.

His unit crossed the Saar River on 6 December 1944 and attempted for the next two days to capture and hold two heavily defended towns Pachtener Kopfe and Rehlingen. Searle was mortally wounded during enemy engagement on 9 December and was reported to have died of his wounds near Rehlingen, Germany.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on 3 October 2022 that Pfc. Roy J. Searle was accounted for on 27 September 2022.

Pfc Searle was buried on 13 September 2023 at the South Florida National Cemetery, in Lake Worth Beach, Florida.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com – La France Family Tree
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Dave Hansen