Howard McGuill BISSETT

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 CEMETERY TEMPORARY of  Sainte Mère Eglise #2 N°3586

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Map of Normandy American Cemetery

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2LT Howard McGuill Bissett

Howard McGuill Bissett (service #O-1640425) was born on 25 August 1921 in San Bernadino, California. His father, Michael Bissett, a Texas native, was a sound engineer on motion pictures, as well as an electrician. His mother, Bessie L. (Cox) Bissett, born in New Mexico, was a homemaker. Howard had a younger sister, Marjorie Marguerite Louise Bissett.

 Howard grew up in the Los Angeles area, attending schools in the Chico School District, specifically Salem Elementary School. When he was 15, he helped the police by spotting a stolen car that the police were then able to recover. During his youth and through high school, Howard was a noted boxer, with a number of his boxing matches reported in the newspapers of the time. It would be fair to say that he won some and lost some. Howard graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School in Los Angeles in 1940.

 After high school, in June 1940, Howard spent a stint in the hospital because of a black widow spider bite. At the time, he was working at Crippen & Moore’s Service Station. Soon thereafter, Howard registered for the draft from Boulder City, Clark County, Nevada, where he worked for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Boulder Dam Power House.

 Second Lieutenant Howard M. Bissett enlisted in the military on 21 July 1942 in Salt Lake City, Utah. At the time, he had one year of college under his belt and was an apprentice electrician (following in his father’s footsteps). Information on his U.S.-based military training is not available. However, in due course, he was assigned to the 94th Signal Battalion of the 94th Infantry Battalion.

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As an officer in the Signal Battalion, 2LT Bissett was responsible for providing communications support to military units, enabling effective coordination and command of troops in the field. Signal battalions were involved in the laying and maintaining of telephone lines, operating switchboards, establishing radio communications, and maintaining signal equipment.

 The 94th Infantry (including the signal battalion) was assigned to the European Theater. Following a brief stay in England, 2LT Bissett and the 94th landed on Utah Beach, France on D-Day + 94, on 8 September 1944, and moved into Brittany to relieve the 6th Armored Division and assume responsibility for containing 60,000 German troops in their garrisons at Lorient and Saint-Nazaire. During this period of fighting, 2LT Bissett was killed in action on 16 November 1944.

 Although the details of his death are unreported, it is clear that 2LT Bissett acted heroically, as he was awarded the Bronze Star, which the military awards to members for heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. He also received the Purple Heart posthumously. Howard was an outstanding young man and soldier.

 The remains of 2LT Howard McGuill Bissett were laid to rest in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France (Plot C Row 10 Grave 10). Howard was survived by his parents, Michael and Bessie, and his sister, Marjorie.