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Personal info

Full name
BUCHANAN, Elmer U
Date of birth
1921
Age
unknown
Place of birth
Oklahoma
Hometown
McCurtain County, Oklahoma

Military service

Service number
38533087
Rank
Private First Class
Function
unknown
Unit
I Company,
3rd Battalion,
378th Infantry Regiment,
95th Infantry Division
Awards
Silver Star,
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
18 November 1944
Place of death
Metz, France

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
J 17 22

Immediate family

Members
Avis D. Buchanan (wife)

More information

Pfc Elmer U. Buchanan enlisted in Dallas, Texas on 26 August 1943.

On the order of General Kittel, on the morning of 18 November 1944, the Pont du Sauvage was blown up at the moment men of I Company began to cross it. Fifteen men were killed.

For his action that day, he was awarded the Silver Star Medal posthumously.

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

Together with the other killed members of his unit, he is remembered on a plaque at the bridge.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record, http://mathieu.gitzhofer.free.fr/irongb.php
Photo source: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/admin/images/memorials/1523280596plaquesauvage.jpg