Memorial

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Pfc Henry E. Zahradnik graduated from Bogota High School and was a cutter at the Pearl Button Factory before he enlisted in Newark, New Jersey on 6 January 1943. His fiancée was Irene Roberts.

On the night of 10 October 1944, B Company suffered the loss of 47 men in an explosion of anti-tank mines at Ajoncourt, France. The third and elements of the first platoon were engaged in a night mine laying operation just north of the town. The squad trucks loaded with mines were parked at a point just south of the town and the mines were being fused and unloaded from the trucks and carried to the mine field. At approximately 2300, a terrific explosion from the leading truck which was loaded with mines caused a sympathetic detonation of a nearby truck load of mines and mines that were stacked on the ground nearby. Approximately 1,500 mines in all exploded. The entire area immediately became an inferno of exploding mines, small arms ammunition and burning vehicles.