Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
CUTLER, Richard W "Dick" - Date of
birth
16 September 1919 -
Age
25 - Place of
birth
Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio -
Hometown
Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
15101860 -
Rank
Private First Class -
Function
Automatic Rifleman -
Unit
I Company,
3rd Battalion,
505th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
82nd Airborne Division
-
Awards
Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster,
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
3 January 1945 - Place of
death
Fosse - Trois-Ponts, Belgium
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| D | 7 | 2 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Harry G. Cutler Sr. (father)
Mary R. Cutler (mother)
Harry G. Cutler Jr. (brother)
Mary J. Cutler (sister)
Dorothy M. Cutler (sister)
Jessie M. (Hahn) Cutler (wife)
Judith A. (Dyer) Cutler (daughter)
More information
Pfc Richard W. Cutler volunteered for the Army of the United States at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana on 16 April 1942.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.
A fellow heard Richard's last words:
"After an hour or so, a Sherman tank rattled up the hill and with his help we secured our objective. It was an expensive outing for us, as we lost several more of our original men. Dick Cutler and I had been friends since basic training. He had made it to the hedgerow and raised up his BAR to fire on a sniper in a barn loft. His last words were: 'I'll get that son of a bitch.' The sniper was waiting for him to raise up. Dick took a bullet through the chest, groaned and died. Our CO, Capt McPeeters, on my right at the hedgerow, was killed at this time. He had replaced a CO killed in Normandy."
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Judith Ann Cutler Dyer (daughter), NARA, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ww2-airborne.us, www.ancestry.com - 1920/1930 Census / Headstone and Interment Record, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Records
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Henri Hannon, www.newspapers.com - 31 January 1945, AOMDA