World War II Honoree

Doyle M. Herrmann

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Lincoln County, Oklahoma

Honored By

Robert S. Cox

SERVED IN THE AMERICAN THEATER AT DYERSBURG ARMY AIR FIELD, TENNESSEE. ASSIGNED OVERSEAS TO THE ASIATIC-PACIFIC THEATER, IN THE CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS, WITH THE 853RD ENGINEER AVIATION BATTALION. HIS BATTALION SAILED FROM THE HAMPTON ROADS PORT OF EMBARKATION ON OCTOBER 3, 1943 AND LANDED IN NORTH AFRICA ON OCTOBER 23, 1943. SERVED OVERSEAS WITH HIS UNIT IN THE EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN THEATER IN ORAN, ALGERIA WHILE AWAITING FURTHER DEPLOYMENT TO INDIA. PRIVATE FIRST CLASS HERRMANN WAS KILLED IN ACTION (KIA) ON NOVEMBER 26, 1943, WHEN HIS MAJESTY’S TROOPSHIP ‘RHONA,’ ON WHICH HE AND HIS UNIT WERE EMBARKED, WAS SUNK IN AN AIR ATTACK BY GERMAN LUFTWAFFE AIRCRAFT OFF THE COAST OF NORTH AFRICA. THE SHIP WAS PART OF A CONVOY TRAVELLING FROM ORAN, ALGERIA TO INDIA, VIA THE SUEZ CANAL. THE SINKING WAS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA NORTH OF BEJAIA, ALGERIA. HE WAS ONE OF 1138 MEN LOST; 1015 WERE AMERICANS. ANOTHER 35 AMERICAN TROOPS DIED LATER OF WOUNDS. THE ATTACK, BY A GERMAN BOMBER USING A RADIO-CONTROLLED GLIDE BOMB, CAUSED THE LARGEST LOSS OF AMERICAN TROOPS AT SEA IN A SINGLE INCIDENT. THE SHIP EXPLODED, CAUGHT FIRE AND SANK SHORTLY THEREAFTER. THOUSANDS WENT INTO THE COLD AND ROUGH SEA IN THE DARKNESS AND PERISHED THERE FROM HYPOTHERMIA AND EXHAUSTION. ALTHOUGH SOME LIFEBOATS WERE LOWERED, MANY WERE CAPSIZED BY THOSE IN THE WATER TRYING TO CLIMB ABOARD. THE HEAVY LOSS OF LIFE WAS ALSO DUE, IN LARGE PART, TO THE FAILURE OF SEVEN LARGE EMPTY LANDING CRAFT TO STOP AND PICK UP SURVIVORS IN THE WATER. HE WAS OFFICIALLY DECLARED KIA ON OCTOBER 27, 1943 AND LISTED AS BURIED AT SEA. AWARDED POSTHUMOUSLY THE PURPLE HEART, GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN CAMPAIGN MEDAL, AND WWII VICTORY MEDAL.