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Personal info

Full name
DOUDEN, William Howard
Date of birth
22 August 1923
Age
21
Place of birth
New York
Hometown
Steuben County, New York

Military service

Service number
12198606
Rank
Sergeant
Function
Assistant Squad Leader
Unit
A Company,
1st Battalion,
273rd Infantry Regiment,
69th Infantry Division
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
22 February 1945
Place of death
Lindenweg
Miescheid, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
Plot Row Grave
F 7 38

Immediate family

Members
William L. Douden (father)
Pearl R. (Erway) Douden (mother)
Robert W. Wright (stepfather)
Pauline M. Douden (sister)
Janet (Strait) Douden (wife)

More information

Sgt William H. Douden joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve in Elmira, New York on 10 November 1942. He was later transferred to the infantry and was assigned to overseas duty in October 1944.
On the evening of 22 February 1945 the farm where the 3rd Platoon of B Company had found shelter, blew up, due to the detonation of a shaped charge, called a "Beehive". At that moment, 58 people were in the building. 51 of them were killed.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Family Trees / 1940 Census, www.bloggen.be, www.newspapers.com - Democrat and Chronicle

Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Des Philippet, Doug Hughes