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name
STARK, Ralph D - Date of
birth
13 March 1923 -
Age
21 - Place of
birth
Houston County, Missouri -
Hometown
Durant, Bryan County, Oklahoma
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
38399335 -
Rank
Private -
Function
unknown -
Unit
I Company,
3rd Battalion,
505th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
82nd Airborne Division
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Died of Wounds - Date of
death
4 January 1945 - Place of
death
Fosse - Trois-Ponts, Belgium
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| H | 4 | 51 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Wiley Stark (father)
Parry Stark (mother)
Irella Stark (sister)
More information
Pvt Ralph D. Stark enlisted in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on 11 February 1943.He had been hospitalized three times; in July 1944 due to grenade fragments in the thoraxwall and in November 1944 due to nasopharyngitis.
The plan on 3 January for taking Fosse was for G and H Companies to bypass the town and take up positions on high ground to the southwest from which they could provide supporting fire while I Company attacked into the town from the north. All was going well until I Company emerged from a wood two hundred yards from Fosse's outskirts and got pinned down by small arms, machinegun and artillery fire. The commanding officer, Capt McPheeters was killed instantly as well as the only other officer Lt Degenhardt. In total the company suffered 13 casualties. They are remembered on a monument, situated on the north side of the town in a street called Sur le Meez.
Pvt Stark died of mulitiple wounds.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, Sheree Dowdle, www.archives.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ww2-airborne.us, www.ancestry.com - 1930/1940 Census / U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.findagrave.com - Nelda