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name
BARNHART, Robert E - Date of
birth
23 May 1919 -
Age
25 - Place of
birth
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan -
Hometown
Florida
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
7032645 -
Rank
Private First Class -
Function
unknown -
Unit
A Company,
1st Battalion,
22nd Infantry Regiment,
4th Infantry Division
-
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
31 March 1945 - Place of
death
Halle, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle - Tablets of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Ella M. Barnhart (mother)
Lois Barnhart (wife)
More information
Pfc Robert E. Barnhart joined the Regular Army on 10 April 1940.He was taken prisoner of war on 20 September 1944 when his unit was fighting in the vicinity of Wascheid, Germany.
He was killed as a result of a bombing attack on the town of Halle. He was in a air raid shelter when the roof collapsed. The raid was very big and most of the city was demolished, resulting in more than 20,000 casualties. For weeks the dead were taken out of the buildings and buried in wooden boxes without any regard to nationality. Investigation after the war couldn't locate his grave.
In August 1946 thirteen bodies were recovered from the Gertrauden Cemetery at Halle. According to the cemetery records, one body was buried as William E. Barnhart. At the processing point however, this body was identified as an Italian POW.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, Danny van der Groen, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ivydivisionww2.com, IDPF
Photo source: Peter Schouteten