World War II Honoree

Coy C. Craig

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Pryor, Oklahoma

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Sergeant. On September 24, 1943, he entered the United States Army at Tulsa, Oklahoma. Deployed to England, where he served as a member of the 66th Infantry ‘Black Panther’ Division assigned to Charlie Company, 1st 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 Shirley Cemetery in Eldon, Oklahoma. This Soldier, an American Patriot so gallantly gave his life for his country.