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Personal info

Full name
SOTO, Roberto
Date of birth
7 December 1922
Age
22
Place of birth
El Paso, El Paso County, Texas
Hometown
El Paso, El Paso County, Texas

Military service

Service number
38438355
Rank
Private
Function
unknown
Unit
C Company,
1st Battalion,
377th Infantry Regiment,
95th Infantry Division
Awards
Silver Star,
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
20 January 1945
Place of death
Saarlautern, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Luxembourg
Plot Row Grave
H 8 67

Immediate family

Members
Trinidad Soto (father)
Francisca (Arellano) Soto (mother)
Celia Soto (sister)
Elena Soto (sister)
Lilia Soto (sister)
Raul Soto (brother)
Maria L. Soto (sister)
Josefina Soto (sister)
Anna F. Soto (sister)

More information

Pvt Soto enlisted on 14 January 1943.

He was awarded the Silver Star posthumously. He was hurling a hand grenade at a German machine gun emplacement to save from annihilation a squad of friendly riflemen advancing into range of the hidden emplacement. As the grenade left his hand the Germans opened fire and killed him instantly. The grenade then exploded in the midst of the enemy position, killing two members of the machine gun crew.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans, Roberto Soto, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.findagrave.com, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1940 Census / Texas Birth Certificates, http://mathieu.gitzhofer.free.fr/irongb/php, El Paso Herald-Post 1 May 1945
Photo source: Roberto Soto