World War II Honoree

Eldred O. Welbourn

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Underwood, Iowa

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private 1st Class. He served in England as a member of the 66th Infantry 'Black Panther' Division assigned to Fox 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 and in remembrance of the Brave, they have recorded his name in the Tablets of the Missing at the Normandy American Cemetery located at Colleville-sur-Mer, France. His family has placed a Memorial Marker at the Hazel Dell Cemetery, Council Bluffs, Iowa in his memory. This Soldier, an American Patriot, awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, who so gallantly gave his life for his country.