Joseph Estacio ARRUDA
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NUMBER OF SERVICE | 31223774 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
AGE | 23 yo | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DATE OF BIRTH | 2 October 1921 MAINE | |||||||||||||||||||||||
ETAT | MASSACHUSETTS | |||||||||||||||||||||||
FAMILY |
Parents: Louis E & Marion R FERRIE Siblings: Manuel, Delphine, John, Angelina, Anthony, Patricia, Julio, Frank, Helen, Louise, Alice, & Madeline | |||||||||||||||||||||||
RANK | Private First Class | |||||||||||||||||||||||
FONCTION | Infantry | |||||||||||||||||||||||
JOB BEFORE ENLISTEMENT | Rubber Factory Woker | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DATE of ENLISTEMENT | 15 October 1942 Boston MASSACHUSETS | |||||||||||||||||||||||
COMPANY | Company F | |||||||||||||||||||||||
REGIMENT | 8th Infantry Regiment | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DIVISION | 4th Infantry Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DATE OF DEATH | 6 June 1944 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
STATUS | KIA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
PLACE OF DEATH | Utah Beach | |||||||||||||||||||||||
CEMETERY TEMPORARY |
CEMETERY TEMPORARY of Blosville N°3508
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CEMETERY | NORMANDY AMERICAN CEMETERY of Colleville | |||||||||||||||||||||||
GRAVE |
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DECORATION |
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STORY | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The third of 14 children, Joseph Arruda was born in 1921 in Maine. With the arrival of their third son, Louis and Marion Rezendes Arruda moved the family to Taunton, Massachusetts to begin anew. Louis, who had immigrated from the Portuguese islands of the Azores in 1903, became a grinder in a local foundry while his wife cared for their growing family. Like many boys his age, Joseph attended grammar school with his brothers and sisters during the day and returned to help with his younger siblings in the evening. Unfortunately, as with many immigrant families, the Arrudas could not afford to continue the education of their children any further. To support the family, Joseph took on a job as an unskilled laborer in the rubber industry while his siblings all found their own sources of income as well. Having spent his life in Taunton, never leaving rural Massachusetts, Joseph dreamed of adventure and found his chance in Ocober 1942, when he left home for Boston to enlist in the army. He wasn't alone, though, as his eldest brother Manuel had done the same shortly before. Placed in the 8th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division, Joseph was deployed immediately to England where, even after months of basic training back home, he was subjected to still more training in preparation for Operation Overlord. On D-Day, June 6, Private First Class Arruda was in one of the first landing craft bound carrying his Company F toward the Uncle Red sector of Utah Beach. After a brief struggle, 2nd Battalion pushed ashore against minimal resistance, with Company F forming the spearhead. A short but fierce firefight saw the crucial WN4 captured, after which little stood between them and their objective at Les Forges. Unfortunately, at some point between the landing and the fall of WN4, PFC Joseph Arruda was killed in action; as he was in the first wave ashore, it is likely he was among the first men killed on Utah Beach, though this is not confirmed. Tragically he would not be the only casualty for the Arruda family, as his brother Manuel, in the 1st Engineer Battalion of the 1st Infantry Division, was also killed in the bloody assault on Omaha Beach. The two brothers are buried in the Normandy American Cemetery. They left behind their parents, 5 brothers, and 7 sisters, all of whom remained in Taunton for the duration of their lives. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
4th INFANTRY DIVISION - IVY
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SOURCE INFORMATION & PHOTO | FamilySearch - FindAGrave - Ancestry - Honor States - Garrett MAST - Findagrave.com - Frédéric LAVERNHE |
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PROGRAMMER | Garrett, Clive, Frédéric & Renaud |