World War II Honoree

Marion J. Westbrook

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Alton, Illinois

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private 1st Class. He served in England with the 66th Infantry ‘Black Panther’ Division assigned to Easy Company, 2nd Battalion an element of the 262nd Infantry Regiment. Sunday December 24, 1944 while crossing the English Channel during his deployment from Southampton, England to France, aboard the SS Leopoldville, the troopship 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. Reported missing in action, lost at sea, Monday, December 25, 1944. In remembrance of the Brave, his name appears in the Tablets of the Missing and memorialized at the Normandy American Cemetery located at Colleville-sur-Mer, France. This Soldier, an American Patriot, awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, who so gallantly gave his life for his country.