Operation Diadem 85th Infantry Division POW dog tags

[BarriosMilitaria]

On this day 80 years again, Private Ralph Milton Henry, would be captured during Operation Diadem while serving with F Company, 339th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division.

 

Ralph was born December 3rd, 1921, in Rochester Mills, Indiana. He was the son of Levis Sinclair Henry and Mary Twilla Henry. 

 

He would be inducted into the US Army on November 24th, 1942, at Altoona, Pennsylvania. He would go to basic at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi, and be assigned to Company G, 393rd Infantry Regiment. Finally, he would be sent to Fort Dix, New Jersey, to be assigned as a rifleman serving in F Company, 339th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division. He would ship out overseas to North Africa, landing in Casablanca on January 2nd, 1944, staying just for a couple of months, he would receive amphibious training at Port aux Poules near Arzew and Oran. On March 10th, he would leave Oran, finally leaving for Italy, he would find himself in Naples just four days later. He would get his first taste of combat in Italy on March 18th, 1944, during the Rome-Arno Campaign. On May 11th, 1944, the long-awaited spring offensive has commenced, Operation Diadem is now in motion. It would be the next day on the 12th, while fighting in the vicinity of Minturno, Italy, that Ralph would be captured. His company would suffer heavy casualties from machine gun and mortar fire, him included. He would receive shrapnel wounds on his right leg, which would later be treated by German doctors. He would be held as a Prisoner of War at Stalag VII-A, and later be moved to Stalag II-B until being liberated on May 3rd, 1945

[manayunkman]

Very nice.