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name
EMMERT, Ralph O - Date of
birth
13 May 1923 -
Age
22 - Place of
birth
Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa -
Hometown
Polk County, Iowa
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
17113273 -
Rank
Private First Class -
Function
unknown -
Unit
H Company,
2nd Battalion,
304th Infantry Regiment,
76th Infantry Division
-
Awards
Silver Star
Death
-
Status
Died non-Battle - Date of
death
17 May 1945 - Place of
death
Arnstorf, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| D | 15 | 12 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Ray A. Emmert (father)
Bertha M. (Row) Emmert (mother)
Dale R. Emmert (brother)
Cora A. Emmert (sister)
More information
Ralph Emmert graduated from Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa with the class of 1941 and he attended Michigan State College from 1941 to 1943.He enlisted in May 1943 and was sent overseas in November 1944.
Pfc Emmert died as a result of a fractured skull, sustained in a vehicle accident.
He was awarded the Silver Star Medal posthumously. The citation cited: His platoon was dug in at a point so thickly wooded that it became necessary to estabish an observation post across an open field in the edge of the woods know to be occupied by the enemy. Pvt Emmert began to lay wire to the newly selected position across the open field which was being subjected to heavy enemy machine gun fire. Disregarding warnings of danger, he crawled forward and paused only after phone contacts had been made. Uninjured, he operated his phone, enabling effetive mortar fire to be brought upon the enemy.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - Family Trees / 1930 Census / WWII Bonus Case File, www.newspapers.com - Des Moines Tribune
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Fred, www.ancestry.com - Roosevelt High School Yearbook 1941, www.newspapers.com - Des Moines Tribune