Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
VAN DUSEN, William David - Date of
birth
4 October 1922 -
Age
22 - Place of
birth
Burlington, Kane County, Illinois -
Hometown
Burlington, Kane County, Illinois
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
36612215 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
Platoon Sergeant -
Unit
F Company,
2nd Battalion,
376th Infantry Regiment,
94th Infantry Division
-
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
10 February 1945 - Place of
death
Bannholz Woods, north of Sinz, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| A | 12 | 60 |
Immediate family
-
Members
William Van Dusen (father)
Stella Van Dusen (mother)
Edith Van Dusen (sister)
Ruth (Spriet) Van Dusen (wife)
More information
S/Sgt William D. Van Dusen attended the Burlington schools and was employed by the Mordern Steel Company of Geneva before he enlisted on 7 December 1942 and sent overseas July 1944.His platoon was ordered to lead a patrol into the Bannholz Woods. After gaining some ground in the woods the Germans counterattacked with tanks and infantry. The Americans were nearly surrounded and Van Dusen was ordered to lead his platoon forward in the hope of gaining a breakthrough. As he arose and started forward he was hit above the right eye. Fire from the enemy was so fierce that hospital corpsmen were unable to reach him. He attempted to administer his own first aid but in raising up slightly to reach his first aid pouch enemy bullets crashed into him twice more. In the battle in which he was killed out of 300 Americans who went in only 100 came out.
He is remembered at the Burlington Union Cemetery in Burlington, Kane County, Illinois.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1930 Census, http://www.94thinfdiv.com, www.newspapers.com - The Daily Chronicle - 26 October 1945, www.findagrave.com - Melanie Howe
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Denise Kellam / Melanie Howe