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name
PITMAN, Bruce Merritt - Date of
birth
5 February 1920 -
Age
24 - Place of
birth
North Henderson, Mercer County, Illinois -
Hometown
Rio, Knox County, Illinois
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
36317736 -
Rank
Technical Sergeant -
Function
Platoon Commander -
Unit
B Company,
1st Battalion,
112th Infantry Regiment,
28th Infantry Division
-
Awards
Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster,
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
8 November 1944 - Place of
death
Near Kommerscheid, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle - Tablets of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Jay A. Pitman (father)
Blanch M. Pitman (mother)
Althea R. Pitman (sister)
John J. Pitman (brother)
Paul C. Pitman (brother)
Ross G. Pitman (brother)
More information
Bruce M. Pitman enlisted on 12 February 1942 at Camp Grant, Illinois.1st Battalion Baker Company, it´s second Platoon, fighting near Able Company, had no remaining officers. He took over the Platoon and noticed one of his men missing. He went to look for him and did not return. The Platoon guide, Sergeant Roy Littlehales, set out to find him and located him about 25 yards away with his left leg torn off from the knee down, the victim of an artillery explosion. The Sergeant screamed for a medic, who said there was nothing he could do but give him a shot of morphine. He died later that day. He was up for a commission at the time of his death.
Source of information: Astrid van Erp, Carla Mans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men
Photo source: Astrid van Erp, Onedia High School yearbook 1938