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name
BRIERE, Walter Bradley - Date of
birth
26 March 1914 -
Age
30 - Place of
birth
Portland, Cumberland County, Maine -
Hometown
Queens, Queens County, New York
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-1046734 -
Rank
First Lieutenant -
Function
unknown -
Unit
F Battery,
81st Airborne Anti-Aircraft Battalion,
101st Airborne Division
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
3 January 1945 - Place of
death
Bastogne, Belgium
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Luxembourg
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| C | 2 | 17 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Joseph Briere (father)
Marion A. (Linskey) Briere (mother)
Charles Briere (brother)
Dorothy Briere (sister)
Carl Briere (brother)
Beatrice Briere (sister)
Irene Briere (sister)
Donald Briere (brother)
John Briere (brother)
Joseph Briere (brother)
Edward Briere (brother)
Raymond Briere (brother)
Peter Briere (brother)
Paul Briere (brother)
Annette Briere (sister)
Marie Briere (sister)
More information
1st Lt Walter B. Briere graduated from Flushing High School in New York in 1932 and was employed at Lorentzen Hardware Manufacturing Corporation.Per Capt Flanagan: "[Lt Briere's] unit was working a heavy gun when the Germans broke through at Bastogne. His unit was cut off, but they kept the enemy at a distance. Then, the gun jammed, and they could not clear it. So, Walter ordered his men to retire to a safe position. He, himself, remained at the gun working to clear it. Every time the enemy tried to rush him, he turned a machine gun on them, and drove them back. Then, he got the gun working again, and shortly after he was hit in the forehead by a bullet which pierced his helmet, and he was killed instantly."
He was first buried at Temporary American Military Cemetery Grand Failly, France.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record, http://www.ww2-airborne.us, WWII Draft Card, findagrave.com - ktvatn23
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Luxembourg American Cemetery, Hannah Majewski - Glenn Briere