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name
CARPENTER, William Richard "Bill" - Date of
birth
30 January 1917 -
Age
28 - Place of
birth
Papillion, Sarpy County, Nebraska -
Hometown
Antelope County, Nebraska
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-450256 -
Rank
Major -
Function
unknown -
Unit
B Company,
2nd Battalion,
505th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
82nd Airborne Division
-
Awards
Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster,
Purple Heart with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
12 April 1945 - Place of
death
In the vicinity of Hitdorf, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Denver E. Carpenter (father)
Helene C. (Grabow) Carpenter (mother)
Clair F. Carpenter (brother)
Dorothy A. Carpenter (sister)
Daniel E. Carpenter (brother)
Robert J. Carpenter (brother)
Mary Carpenter (sister)
More information
Maj William R. Carpenter graduated from Plainview High School in 1934. In 1935 he joined the Regular Army. In 1940 he graduated from OCS and served as an instructor at Fort Benning for two and a half years.In 1943 he was transferred to the parachute infantry. He took part in the Normandy invasion landing behind enemy lines before D-Day. Landing at Nijmegen he was wounded during a mortar counter attack but refused to quit his post until the enemy was destroyed.
He was together with Capt Charles L. Barnett in a kayak on the Rhine. He wanted to retrieve the body of a trooper of E Company, who was killed the night before. Suddenly men of the 505th heard splashing on the water and screaming, they jumped in the water on the place where they heard the sound came from, but the splashing and screaming suddenly stopped. Some men have tried to rescue both of them.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, WWIIMemorial.com, www.ancestry.com, www.findagrave.com
Photo source: www.ancestry.com - JoAnn Boyens family tree