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Ernest Rowe COFFELT
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Source : Joel Frampton Gilfert | |||||||
| NUMBER OF SERVICE | 34734290 | ||||||
| AGE | 21 yo | ||||||
| DATE OF BIRTH |
28 May 1923 Orme, Marion County, TENNESSEE | ||||||
| ENLISTMENT STATE | GEORGIA | ||||||
| FAMILY |
Parents : John & Mary (Rowe) COFFELT | ||||||
| RANK |
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| FONCTION | Paratroopers | ||||||
| JOB BEFORE ENLISTEMENT |  | ||||||
| DATE of ENLISTEMENT | 22 May 1943 Fort Oglethorpe GEORGIA | ||||||
| COMPANY | 596th Airborne Engineer Company - 3rd Pltn | ||||||
| REGIMENT | 517th Parachute Regiment | ||||||
| DIVISION | 13rd Airborne Division | ||||||
| DATE OF DEATH | 30 August 1944 |
Source : Andy | |||||
| STATUS | --- | ||||||
| PLACE OF DEATH | ---- | ||||||
| PLAN DE VOL / FLIGHT PLAN | |||||||
| CEMETERY TEMPORARY |
CEMTERY TEMPORARY of Draguignan N°3519 | ||||||
| CEMETERY | RHONE AMERICAN CEMETERY and MEMORIAL of Draguignan | ||||||
| GRAVE |
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| DECORATION & BREVET |
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| STORY | |||||||
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He was killed along with two other combat engineers, Sgt Howard Jaynes and Pvt Leonard Mathis. They had cleared a path through an enemy anti-airborne minefield which consisted of bobby-trapped enemy 155mm artillery shells. These were hung from wires stretched between poles about 5 ft above the ground. The three were clearing a path across the Var River. The procedure was that one would "embrace" the shell and raise it a fraction of an inch while a second would reach up and insert the safety pin in the detonator, then the third trooper knelt to help catch the shell's weight after the first man cut the wire. Coffelt was inserting the safety pins and Mathis was the one kneeling. Sgt Janes was inserting the safety pin. They were killed when the 17th one exploded. Each of them was awarded the Silver Star. | |||||||
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Source : Fold3 |
Source : Fold3 | ||||||
| SOURCE INFORMATION & SOURCE PHOTO | Weremember.abmc.gov - Findagrave.com - Fold3 |
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| EDITORS | Victor, Jean-Philippe, Eric, Henri, Garrett, Clive, Frédéric & Renaud |