World War II Honoree

Samuel J. Wooten

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Corporal. Inducted into the United States Army June 29, 1942 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and deployed to the European Theater of Operations after the completion of his Basic Combat Infantry Training and Chemical Schooling. Experienced combat as a member of Headquarters Company, 87th Chemical Battalion, attached to the 8th Infantry Regiment, a subordinate unit of the 4th Infantry ‘Ivy’ Division. He participated in the Battle of Normandy, D-Day, Tuesday, June 6, 1944, the invasion of Germany’s Fortress Europe, Code Name: Operation Overlord. His battalion went ashore on Utah Beach, during the assault on the German Army defenses. Killed in Action Monday, June 19, 1944 in the vicinity of Montebourg, France and buried in the Saint Mere Eglise #1 Battlefield Cemetery in Carentan, France. A truck loaded with ammunition that was parked in his work area suddenly exploded, cause unknown and undetermined. Reported as Missing in Action on the day if his death and in memory, he is memorialized in the tablets of the Missing at the Normandy American Cemetery located at Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Decoration: This Soldier, an American Patriot, awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, who so gallantly gave his life for his country.