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Personal info

Full name
HELFENSTEIN, Dwight Minshall
Date of birth
20 June 1926
Age
18
Place of birth
Dover, Kent County, Delaware
Hometown
Cerro Gordo County, Iowa

Military service

Service number
37772499
Rank
Private First Class
Function
unknown
Unit
C Company,
7th Armored Infantry Battalion,
8th Armored Division
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
7 April 1945
Place of death
Belecke, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
G 21 14

Immediate family

Members
Roy C. Helfenstein (father)
Harriet (Boss) Helfenstein (mother)
Janice Helfenstein (sister)
Dorothy Helfenstein (sister)
Charlotte Helfenstein (sister)

More information

Pfc Dwight M. Helfenstein graduated from Mason City High School.

In a letter to his parents, Lt Col D. L. Hairston explained wath happened on that tragic day: "The half-truck on which he was riding was knocked out by enemy bazooka fire and he was hit by enemy automatic machine pistol fire, causing instant death."

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.8th-armored.org, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record, http://iagenweb.org/ - The Globe Gazette Mason City Iowa

Photo source: www.findagrave.com, Des Philippet, www.ancestry.com - Mason City High School Yearbook 1944, Jori Videc