World War II Honoree

Rob R. Murchison

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Fort Collins, Colorado

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private 1st Class. On August 5, 1943, he entered the United States Army from Colorado, deployed to England after the completion of his Combat Infantry Training. He served as a member of the 66th Infantry ‘Black Panther’ Division, assigned to Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion an element of the 264th Infantry Regiment. Sunday December 24, 1944, while on deployment from Southampton, England to Cherbourg, France, crossing the English Channel aboard the SS Leopoldville, it came under attack by the German Submarine, U-486. The Submarine Commander fired two torpedoes, striking the ship, which began to sink slowing in the frigid waters five miles from the coastal shoreline of Cherbourg, France with a loss of 802 lives. Killed in action, Monday, December 25, 1944 and buried in the Saint-Mere-Eglise #2 Battlefield Cemetery in Carentan, France. After the cessation of hostilities in Europe, HIS REMAINS WERE returned to his family for burial, with interment in the Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins, Colorado. This Soldier, an American Patriot so gallantly gave his life for his country.